Naruto: Making of a Hokage
by keybledar43
Summary: It's been three years since Naruto's training with Jiraiya began. He's finally back home but, as Akatsuki and Orochimaru begin their move, will he be able to protect his precious people? Or will he change under the pressure? Sequel to Naruto: A New Path.
1. Hero's Comeback!

**The sequel to **_**Naruto: A New Path **_**is finally here ****guys. I hope that you enjoy this story as much as its prequel. I have tried to improve my writing to make it more organized and easier to read so don't hesitate to tell me if I need to improve on certain aspects.**

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><p><strong>Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto<strong>

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><p>"<em>The coming battles will be tough," Jiraiya spoke in sincerity. He placed a hand on his student's shoulder, a determined smile on his face, "I'll teach you all that I know. That, is a promise."<em>

_Naruto nodded with a grin, "I'll do my best."_

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><p><strong>Naruto: Making of a Hokage<strong>

_**Arrival Arc**_

**Ch.1 Hero's Comeback!**

Jiraiya, legendary sage had, for the first time, exceeded his own expectations. Not only had he managed to train a Hokage not too long ago, but now had a student that would probably get there with time. More importantly, he had managed to solely focus on his student's training. Taking their training to Mount Myoboku had not only helped lessen his peeking habits but had helped in Naruto's training considerably.

That's why he couldn't help but feel pride whenever he looked at his student. No longer a loud-mouthed boy that rushed into things, Naruto had turned into a fine ninja with the years. He took his job seriously when on missions and had developed a calm attitude when in tough situations, much like his father had.

The shinobi in question walked next to Jiraiya, his hair swaying slightly with the light breeze. His hair had grown on his time out of the village with a bit of it blocking parts of his black headband and metal plate. Two bangs that reached a little past his ears framed his face, which had lost all remaining baby fat.

He wore a long-sleeved black shirt with an Uzumaki symbol on the right shoulder. A standard katana was strapped to his back, it's red handle peeking from his right shoulder. His hands were wrapped in white bandages but left his fingers exposed. He also wore dark blue pants with black wrappings around his ankles, ending at his black ninja sandals.

All of this was finished with his chunin vest, showing his rank to ally and enemy alike. It was a slightly modified version of his old outfit since he knew that Ino would probably not appreciate him returning to the village wearing something orange.

A smile formed on Naruto's face at that last thought. After three years he was finally going back to the village. Back to his friends and, most of all, back to Ino. He had missed her deeply during his travels but those days were behind him now.

His attention turned back to the road ahead. They were currently walking through the dense forest just outside of Konoha. The sky was a bright blue with the sun's rays peeking through gaps on the trees.

A sudden shift in movement caught Naruto's attention, turning to his left to see a messenger hawk with a scroll on its beak flying towards him. His brows furrowed before turning to Jiraiya in confusion. The sage had gotten word of all other missions before they arrived, giving him the time to prepare, but he apparently got no word of this one.

"You didn't tell me I had a mission," he spoke in a deeper voice before sticking his left arm out and having the hawk land on it.

Jiraiya shrugged nonchalantly, "I might have gotten word from missions before but, who knows? This could be a last minute one. Tsunade knows that we're near Konoha by now so it wouldn't surprise me."

The hawk opened its mouth, dropping a scroll on Naruto's hand before flapping its wings and leaving. "Let's see…" Naruto muttered with a scowl, fearing that he would have to go away just as he was about to get home.

The toad sage watched his student's darting eyes with a bit of curiosity. "What is it?" he asked once Naruto put the scroll down before pocketing it on his vest.

"It's just the typical hunter ninja task," Naruto explained with a bit of relief on his voice. "Apparently a jailed ninja managed to escape a few hours ago and should be around here," he focused his chakra before using a single hand seal, "Shadow Clone Jutsu."

Three clones appeared at his side, nodding at the original before scattering in opposite directions. Naruto turned to Jiraiya and gave a confident grin, "I'll get this done quick."

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><p>"Good job on the mission Ino," Tsunade praised with a smile as she took a scroll from Ino.<p>

"No problem," Ino grinned.

She had changed with the years, her body sporting the curves that came with adulthood. Her hair was still the same though her bangs covered a bit more of the right side of her face. The style of her clothing had also changed.

Ino wore a purple overcoat over a dark yellow shirt, sporting black shorts and fishnets over her knees. A few bandages covered her upper right leg, the same place where she put her kunai holster. More bandages covered her right ankle, their white color clashing against her black ninja sandals.

"You're done for today," Tsunade went on, watching the impatient look Ino's face, "I'm sure you know that he'll be coming back soon."

"Yeah," Ino replied almost instantly, her eyes lighting up in excitement, "We've been exchanging letters and the last one he sent said that he'd be coming home soon."

Tsunade shook her head with a small smile, knowing how she felt, "You're free to leave Ino."

Ino nodded once more before leaving the office. Her footsteps echoed on the hallways of the building as she hurried out of it. She had been waiting for Naruto at the gate for around two days now. Because of responsibilities and other duties her time was cut short but she had managed to wait for at least an hour before leaving so far.

"Ino?"

The voice snapped her out of her thoughts, eyes widening slightly when finding herself outside the building, apparently too deep in thought to notice.

She turned to the source of the voice to see Sakura walking towards her, her now short hair bouncing with each step, "Did you just get back from a mission?"

"About an hour now," Ino replied before crossing her arms, "I just had to go over things from the mission with Tsunade-sensei."

"I see," Sakura muttered when noticing the hurried look on Ino's eyes, "Are you late for something?"

Ino's eyes widened slightly before a smile formed on her face. "I'm just going to the gate," she explained, eyes filled with happiness, "Naruto's coming back soon and I want to greet him at the gate."

"Naruto?" Sakura repeated in slight shock. She hadn't seen her teammate ever since she saw him leave to get Sasuke back. Though he had failed on his mission she didn't hold him responsible for any of it, in fact she was looking forward to seeing him again.

"Mind if I go with you?"

"Of course not," Ino smiled, "It'll be nice to have someone to talk to while waiting."

The two soon began to walk through the village. Konoha was at its best at the moment, showing no hint of having been attack only a few years ago. People were happy and some ninja walked through the streets with no hurry. Peaceful times were great indeed.

"By the way," Sakura began, gaining Ino's attention, "I never asked why you stopped training with Lady Tsunade and I."

"Oh, that," Ino replied with a dismissive hand. "I still train with Tsunade-sensei from time to time," she began, turning back to the path ahead, "The reason I don't train with her as much is because I only wanted to know enough medical jutsu to help out on missions. After I got where I wanted, I started to train on combat again."

Sakura nodded in agreement. Ino had always been more of a fighter than the other kunoichi. Having her become a medical ninja would be odd for those who knew her. Sakura had also heard word of Ino and Anko training together, which she guessed explained why she had taken to wear an overcoat.

"How's your training coming along?" Ino asked, throwing a glance at Sakura.

The medic ninja smiled proudly, "Lady Tsunade said I've become almost as good as Shizune now. Not to mention that she taught me how to use her chakra enhanced punches."

Ino nodded absently, her thoughts turning to Naruto for the hundredth time this week. Ever since she had gotten his last letter she had been looking forward to seeing him again. He could have had given her a specific date but, knowing him, she knew he probably got overexcited and forgot to mention anything of the sort.

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><p>Naruto jumped from branch to branch while making sure to scan the area for any sort of trap just in case the unknown ninja was clever. He had yet to see any sort of trap but it was better to be careful rather than rash in pursuit missions.<p>

One of his cones had found the ninja entering a cabin not too far from where he currently was. A second clone had stayed near the cabin just in case the ninja left once more. He wanted to end this mission early, having the ninja escape would only waste his time. He wanted to get back to Konoha as soon as possible. His heart beat loudly on his chest in almost uncontrollable excitement, he was just so glad to be going back.

"Calm down…" Naruto muttered to himself while shaking his head, getting overexcited would only get him in trouble.

Ridding himself of those thoughts, he continued moving through the woods before finally making it to where the other clone was. It stood against a tree with its arms crossed, apparently bored with the whole ordeal.

The clone noticed Naruto and clicked its tongue in annoyance, "You took too long."

"… Right," Naruto let out a sigh, he hated clones with attitude. It was something he could never really change when making small numbers of clones. They would get these different attitudes when not in the middle of battles and it could get annoying at times, "Is he still in there?"

"Have I dispelled yet?" the clone asked with a glare, throwing its hands up in the air, "Seriously. If I'm still here it means he hasn't left yet you son of a-"

Naruto dispelled the clone with an annoyed look. "Why didn't I do that in the first place?" he asked himself before looking at the small cabin standing on a small clearing. It was nothing impressive really but he thought it was strange for a cabin to be on the outskirts of a Hidden Village. He decided to simply destroy it once the ninja was taken down.

'_Let's get this over with,' _Naruto stepped out of the trees, nearing the cabin in short steps.

A hand glided over his katana when hearing the sound of footsteps. He stopped dead on his tracks, jaw clenching in anticipation, before a man stepped out of the cabin.

The man's eyes widened at seeing a ninja in front of him but quickly dismissed the initial shock when taking a good look at who the ninja was, his whisker marks being a dead giveaway. He snarled before speaking the name he hated, "Naruto..."

Naruto furrowed his brows at hearing his name. Just who was this ninja? He was dressed in a dark gray vest with the sleeves cut off, finished by a black pants and sandals. This man had a muscular build and silver hair that reached a little past his shoulders. He didn't recall ever meeting anyone like that.

"I can safely say that I didn't plan on seeing you again," the man commented with a smirk.

Naruto cocked his head to the side, confusion showing on his face, "Who are you again?"

"What? You can't be serious," the man growled before pointing his thumb at his chest, "Did you already forget me, demon? I'm Mizuki, you're old teacher and I'm here to finish what I started that night."

"Doesn't ring a bell," Naruto replied in a bored tone.

Mizuki gritted his teeth in anger as his fists clenched, "How can you be so stup-"

He was cut off as a fist landed painfully against his chest. Pain shot through his body before receiving a harsh kick to his stomach, doubling over in pain and letting out violent coughs in an attempt to regain his breath.

Naruto pulled the katana from its sheath before bringing it down on the enemy with no hesitation. Blood splattered in all directions as the blade sliced through Mizuki's exposed neck. His body falling limply on the ground, dead, before he got the chance to realize what happened.

Blood flooded out of the wound on the back of Mizuki's neck, only deep enough to kill. Naruto might at peace with killing for his village but he would only do the necessary to get the kill, there was really no need to be too flashy when killing an enemy.

He pulled out an explosive tag before slapping against Mizuki's back. Once done he put his katana back on its sheath before walking away. He placed his hands in a single hand seal in order to activate the tag left behind.

The ground behind him exploded in a large cloud of dust, leaving no sign of the cabin or body behind. He turned back to make sure there was nothing left before nodding to himself.

Naruto began to run through the forest now that his mission was over. Mizuki had made the mistake to leave himself wide open when in battle just by getting angry. That was the thing with those that left imprisonment, they forgot how to fight real shinobi and were easy to defeat.

Naruto rid himself of those thoughts and smiled. Now that his mission was over, he and Jiraiya could finally get going again.

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><p>Jiraiya leaned against a tree with his eyes closed. His sharp ears had heard the explosion not long ago and knew that Naruto had gotten the job done already. It was good since he couldn't wait to get to Konoha, the girls there were just too good for his research. It was a little warm out which meant that there would be girls swimming on local rivers. He smiled, he just couldn't wait.<p>

He turned to his left just as Naruto landed in front of him, not looking like he had just been in a fight. Jiraiya grinned in amusement, "Another angry one?"

Naruto only nodded as they began to walk towards Konoha once more. "Yup, this one left himself wide open," he spoke casually.

Jiraiya chuckled slightly as they walked. It wasn't long until they could see the high walls that surrounded their home village. He threw a glance at his student, noticing the way his eyes lit up.

"Well, our training trip is officially over," Jiraiya stated. "I have to say I'm quite proud of myself in how well you turned out," he admitted, watching in amusement as Naruto rolled his eyes, "Though I'm a bit hurt that you still haven't told me anything of your travels with Anko."

Naruto's face heated up as a growl escaped his lips. "I told you nothing happened! Stop saying stuff like that!" he exclaimed before stomping away from his teacher.

Jiraiya quickly chased after his student, laughing as he did so, "Come on kid, I won't tell anyone. Why are you angry if nothing happened anyway?"

"Just shut up pervert!" Naruto exclaimed as he tried to get away from his master.

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><p>Kotetsu and Izumo, the usual gatekeepers of Konoha could only gape as they were struck by a blast from the past. Jiraiya, the legendary sage, walking alongside someone who looked like their late Fourth Hokage.<p>

Jiraiya noticed the looks and could only grin. His student was starting to really look like his father and his haircut only raised the resemblance. The downside would be that some people would obviously know who Naruto's father was but it didn't matter much anymore.

Naruto though, didn't noticed the looks of shock, too transfixed on the village. A smile was plastered on his face as he took in his home. The damage from the Sound invasion was long gone and Tsunade's face had been added to the Hokage Monument, just beside his father's face.

"Hey Naruto," Jiraiya snapped him out of his thoughts, the blond turning to look at his master, "We have to report to Tsunade first. You can go look around later."

"Right," he nodded with the smile never leaving his face.

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><p>"Hey, what's it like working with the Hokage?"<p>

"Is she really the most powerful kunoichi?"

"Who cares? I'm going to be the Hokage someday anyway."

Ino and Sakura tried to ignore the three genin walking behind them. Looking back, maybe it hadn't been a good idea to tell them that Naruto would be coming home soon. The three were starting to get on Ino's nerves and she was sure that Sakura was about to snap.

Sakura turned to Konohamaru, Moegi and Udon with a glare. "Alright brats that's enough questions already," she growled, scaring the three children that quickly hid behind Ino.

"Sakura just calm down," Ino sighed out, feeling a bit annoyed by how loud things had gotten.

Konohamaru cowered in fear before looking for a way to escape only to have his eyes widen in shock, an exited smile quickly forming on his mouth, "Boss!"

Everyone turned at the sound of Konohamaru's voice, finding a smirking Jiraiya standing next to a very amused Naruto.

"Please, don't let us interrupt," Jiraiya chuckled.

Ino's breath hitched in her throat as she stared at the newly arrived ninja. Her eyes met his, finding their usual warmth and energy before tears welled up in her eyes.

"Naruto," she smiled before running at him and tackling him into a hug.

He returned the hug with a warm smile on his face. "I missed you…" he let out as he held her closer, taking in her warmth and scent, "So much."

A few happy tears rolled down Ino's cheeks as she buried her head on the crook of his neck. "Me too, you don't know how much," she replied with her eyes closed. She let out a giggle when noticing their height difference, "You're taller than me now."

Naruto smiled as he pulled away from the hug, staring into Ino's eyes. For that moment it was just the two of them, everyone else seemed to fade away. They continued to look into each other's eyes before closing them and meeting in a kiss.

"The boss has a girlfriend?"

The two quickly broke apart, realizing that they were standing right in the middle of their friends. Naruto blushed slightly before turning to his teacher and finding him writing rigorously on his notebook, he could only roll his eyes at his antics.

"Stop using me for your research," he complained but wasn't heard by the smiling Jiraiya that kept on writing. Konohamaru quickly moved in front of Naruto, throwing him a smirk.

"Hey boss, I have to show you my new jutsu!" Konohamaru exclaimed. Naruto's eye twitched when seeing the familiar hand sign and, much to his misfortune, everyone else had given their attention to the genin who didn't seem to notice and performed it, "Sexy Jutsu!"

He was engulfed by a cloud of smoke before a naked girl appeared on his place with the smoke blocking just the right places.

"Now that's what I call a jutsu!" Jiraiya exclaimed in glee, giving two thumbs up.

Ino and Sakura only glared at the boy while wondering where he had learned such a jutsu.

Naruto, despite his initial worry, began to chuckle. It was just too nostalgic to see the jutsu once again.

Konohamaru raised a brow before releasing the jutsu, "What's with the laugh boss?"

"You shouldn't be using jutsu like that anymore," he smiled before noticing the sad look that crossed Konohamaru's face. "Since I was the one that taught you that jutsu, I guess I'll need to fix things," he declared, "Whenever I have the time, I'll teach you a real jutsu."

"Really?" Konohamaru exclaimed excitedly.

"Of course," the chunin assured before turning back to Ino, "Let's go talk at Ichiraku ramen. I want to know all you've been up to, letters can only say so much."

"Alright," Ino agreed before clinging to Naruto's arm, not wanting to be separated from him anymore.

It wasn't until now that Naruto took note of Sakura, watching her with an almost shocked expression, "Hey Sakura, you haven't changed at all."

"Hi Naruto," she said through gritted teeth, feeling a bit insulted from his comment before taking in his appearance and looking at him oddly. "I have to admit that you changed a lot," she pointed out.

"Really?" he asked in slight confusion, "I haven't really noticed."

Ino giggled, tightening her grip on the blond, "Trust me, you did. But it's a good change though."

"Alright that's enough," Jiraiya broke in, having stood on the sidelines long enough. "We have to see the Hokage. Naruto, you can go out with your girlfriend to continue what you were doing later," the two blonds blushed at that, "For now, let's go report to Tsunade."

"Right," Naruto chuckled nervously before turning to Sakura and the three genin, "You guys want to come along?"

"Of course," Konohamaru agreed with a smile.

Moegi pulled on his ear before looking at Naruto with an apologetic smile, "We have to meet with Ebisu-sensei, sorry."

Konohamaru objected but was pulled away by his two teammates while trying to get out of their hold.

"I guess I'll tag along," Sakura said as they watched the three genin leave.

"Then let's go. I have places to be," Jiraiya informed before leading the group towards the Hokage Tower.

Naruto smiled as he walked with Ino clinging into his arm. He turned to her, their eyes meeting before he broke into a smile. He was finally home.

**Ch.1 End**

**That's it for now guys. As usual, I'll try to release the chapters weekly. Anyway I hope you liked the start of this story. I can tell you that this is where things really change from canon, unlike the previous story in which it kind of followed it. **

**Also for those of you wondering how he could kill Mizuki so easily. That's because, like Naruto said, jailed ninja have forgotten what it's like to fight real ninja instead of criminals. What I'm trying to say is that Naruto is and will be more ruthless in battle now, he saw his chance and took it. **


	2. A Promise

**Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto**

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><p><strong>Naruto: Making of a Hokage<strong>

_**Arrival Arc**_

**Ch.2 A Promise...**

Jiraiya led the group to the Hokage Tower with a smile plastered on his face. They only needed to report to Tsunade, hand in Naruto's mission report and he'd finally be able to do some research. His fingers were aching to write and his exited demeanor didn't seem to want to go away.

The group soon made it to the room just outside the Hokage's office. There was a receptionist witting behind a table to the side but Jiraiya paid her no mind as he entered the room with Naruto, Ino and Sakura following close behind.

"We're back Tsunade," Jiraiya greeted with a wave to the Hokage sitting behind her desk.

Tsunade smiled upon seeing Naruto. He sure had grown. He was a bit shorter than Jiraiya, quiet tall in contrast of his old self. She frowned upon seeing his hair, it looked longer than usual, she hoped he wasn't going through a rebellious face.

"Well then," she began, making a mental note of speaking to Naruto later. "Welcome back to the village," she went on, "I take it you succeeded on your mission Naruto."

Naruto nodded with a grin. "The ninja's been dealt with," he assured before walking to her desk and giving her a scroll he had just taken out of his vest, "Here's my report."

Tsunade nodded as she put the scroll on her desk before turning back to Jiraiya, "From what you've told me, the training trip went great, but I'll need to be sure."

"What do you mean by that Tsunade-sensei?" Ino spoke up with a bit of confusion on her face.

"I have to see Naruto's progress myself. As the Hokage, I can't just take their word for it. I have to make sure of how far he's gotten," she explained before turning to the open window on the right side of her office, "We have someone here to test you."

Naruto, Ino and Sakura turned to the open window to see Kakashi poke his head inside with a smile noticed on his features.

"Good to see you again Naruto," he greeted with a chuckle, "You've really grown up."

Naruto nodded with a grin, "Are you going to be the one testing me?"

"Yup," was his simple reply.

"Naruto, you are to go to training ground 7 as soon as our meeting is over," Tsunade announced before looking around the room, "Now, I'll need all of you except Naruto to leave. We have things to discuss."

Ino began to walk out of the room before turning back to Naruto and giving him a small smile, "I'll see you outside."

"Right," Naruto nodded as the rest of the group left, leaving him alone with Tsunade.

The Hokage rose from her seat as soon as the group left. She gave Naruto a stern look as she crossed her arms in an intimidating fashion, making him back away nervously. "I want you to tell me if Jiraiya did anything stupid during your training. I promised myself to make him pay if he's tainted you," she growled.

Naruto chuckled nervously under her powerful glare. Just what would happen when she found out where Jiraiya had taken him for one of his birthdays?

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><p>Gaara sat on the Sand Village council room. He occupied the seat of Kazekage. It had been a long and hard road but he had managed to get into the position due to his hard work. This way he could protect those precious to him and, of course, his village much better than being a standard shinobi.<p>

The old council had been replaced after their last had almost caused a war. Chiyo had become the head of the council while other retired shinobi took the open positions. Some changes were made to make sure that neither the Kazekage nor the council would have full control and it had worked great so far. The village was at peace and was steadily growing stronger.

"Lord Kazekage," a councilman began while shuffling through some papers. His dark eyes stared into Gaara as he cleared his throat, "The Waterfall Village has asked for your attendance to their Chunin Exam finals."

A councilwoman narrowed her eyes as she rested her elbows on the large circular table, "I'm opposed to it. Even if it's the first time the Waterfall Village has hosted the Chunin Exams, I don't believe that the Kazekage should leave the village for it."

"I disagree," another councilwoman spoke, "The Kazekage should represent our village at every occasions possible. We've only begun to be recognized and declining an invitation to the Chunin Exams would be foolish."

"I agree as well," Gaara spoke calmly, "A few of our teams have made it to the finals and it should be I that supports them by being there."

Chiyo nodded in agreement, "Very well. Since your brother and sister have left the village, we'll assign a pair of jonin to fill the gaps of your escort team."

"Then this meeting is over," Gaara declared, "I'll be leaving in a few days."

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><p>Two Akatsuki members walked along a dense forest. The two wore the usual cloak along with straw hats with tassels hanging down over their faces. They were required to wear these whenever close to a village as was the case at the moment. Having their identity kept secret was a big part of being part of the Akatsuki.<p>

The two Akatsuki members had just met with a spy on the outskirts of the Waterfall Village as per their leader's orders. They had just finished their meeting and had found out that an invitation to the Chunin Exams had been sent to the Kazekage.

This would be the time to strike for the two members that had been assigned with the capture of the one-tailed demon. If the jinchuuriki did travel to the Waterfall Village then they would simply strike once he was on the road.

"We better tell this to the others, yeah?" one of the Akatsuki members spoke. The other member, holding a scythe over the shoulders stayed silent, annoying the first member, "You're quiet act is getting old. Make sure not to get on my nerves, hm."

"Let's just report to the leader and decide on our next move," the other member replied as the two continued moving.

Whether the Kazekage mover or not would not affect them much. Attacking while he was on the road would be easier than capturing him on the Sand village, though capturing him there was still possible. The jinchuuriki would be captured regardless, it was just a matter of time.

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><p>Naruto walked along the path to the training grounds with an exited smile. It would be the first time he sparred with Kakashi, not counting his horrible attempt at getting the bells years ago of course. He was curious as to what kind of jutsu Kakashi would use. He was rumored to know hundreds after all.<p>

Ino walked alongside him, watching the area around them in silence. The silence between them was a bit awkward eve since they were left to walk alone. It had been three years since they had been alone and it felt a bit awkward. She was sure that they would be back to normal in no time though she still hated the silence between them.

The two passed a fence before finally making it to the training grounds. Kakashi was already there, leaning against a tree while reading his favorite book with Sakura standing next to him looking a bit bored. Jiraiya and Tsunade stood a bit to the side, the latter crossing her arms once seeing the blond couple arrive.

"What took you so long Naruto?" Tsunade asked in a stern voice.

Naruto chuckled while scratching the back of his neck, "Well… you didn't say I had to get here fast and, besides, I wanted to take in the village before coming here."

The legendary ninja narrowed her eyes before groaning in defeat, "Fine," she wielded before crossing her arms, "We'll get started right away then. Kakashi, you can begin."

Said ninja closed his book before turning to his old student with a glint of excitement on his eye, "Alright then. Let's see what you've learned Naruto."

Naruto smirked as a light breeze ruffled his hair with his eyes burning in determination. "Alright," he slipped into his taijutsu stance as Ino moved to stand next to her master and Jiraiya with Sakura trailing along.

Kakashi and Naruto stared each other down, their trained eyes looking for the move that would begin their fight. A breeze washed over the area just as the two ninja charged at each other.

Naruto was the first to throw a right hook but the jonin easily slapped his fist away before retaliating with a kick to his side. The blond quickly lowered his left elbow to meet the blow before kicking at the jonin's side.

Kakashi's visible eye widened before blocking the kick with his left arm and proceeding to kick Naruto's leg from under him. The blond let out a short gasp as he fell on the ground before rolling with the momentum and getting into a standing position just as Kakashi delivered a kick to where he had just been.

"Not bad Naruto," Kakashi praised as he raised a hand to his headband. "Looks like I'll need to take you seriously," he uncovered his left eye, his sharingan eye staring into the blond.

Naruto grinned before running through hand signs and putting a hand to his lips. "Wind Style: Devastation!"

The powerful gust of air shot at Kakashi as it kicked up large clouds of dust. The copy ninja was quick to run through hand signs before slamming both hands on the ground, "Earth Style: Mud Wall."

A tall wall of earth emerged from the ground, clashing against the wind and keeping Kakashi from being flung around the area. He knew how Naruto's jutsu worked since he had mastered countless of jutsu himself. That had given him an edge when it came to ninjutsu and was able to counter almost anything.

He climbed up the wall just as the wind seized, only to see Naruto running through hand signs once more. "Wind Style: Air Bullets!" he exclaimed as powerful blasts of wind shot at the copy ninja.

Kakashi's sharingan focused on the jutsu as he charged at the blond. He easily maneuvered around the air bullets before throwing a kick at the chunin though it met only air as he suddenly disappeared in a cloud of smoke.

"A clone?" he wondered out loud before catching movement to his left. He landed safely on the ground before turning his head to the side to see the blond holding a hand sign with a smirk on his face.

A gust of wind gathered around Naruto as his eyes focused on the opponent, "Wind Style: Slicing Winds!"

Kakashi's eyes widened as blade-like bursts of wind shot at his direction. He cursed under his breath before jumping away from the attack, watching as it crashed against a tree and left deep cut marks on it.

'_What was that jutsu?' _he wondered as he sailed through the air. He hadn't seen that jutsu before, it was as though he took the wind manipulation training to a while new level, _'Well, that just means I'll have to be on the offensive this time.'_

Naruto frowned as Kakashi flipped through the air before shooting a large fireball at his direction. "I hate those things…" he muttered bitterly before running through hand signs and slamming both hands on the ground, "Earth Style: Mud Wall!"

Another wall of earth emerged from the ground, taking on the giant ball of fire but still remaining standing tall. The blond ran up the wall before kicking off of it, moving towards the copy ninja but his eyes shot up in alarm when noticing the large river only a few steps behind Kakashi and the latter running through hand signs.

"Water Style: Water Dragon Jutsu!"

The chunin scolded himself for not making sure of his surroundings before reaching for his katana. He poured chakra into his katana as many blue seals appeared around the blade, taking everyone except for Jiraiya by surprise.

Naruto put the blade between himself and the dragon, crashing against it and pushing the blond through the air. Naruto grunted but kept his hold on the blade as the dragon's size began to lessen. The justu continued to push the blond through the air before beginning to disappear into the blade.

Kakashi watched in amazement as his attack completely disappeared into the blade, just what had Naruto used just now?

Naruto's katana shone a bright blue before he twirled it on his hand and gripped it tightly. The seals turned a black color as the chunin smirked.

"Take this!" Naruto exclaimed as he swung his blade at Kakashi.

Bright blue chakra shot out of the blade, heading straight for Kakashi. He had little time to react but managed to kick off the ground just in time to avoid the blast of chakra. The copy ninja looked at his student in shock, wondering what that had been but cursed under his breath when seeing him running through hand signs once more.

"Wind Style: Wind Dragon Jutsu!"

Kakashi gritted his teeth as a wind version of his water dragon jutsu shot at him. He was airborne which made things a lot more difficult though not impossible.

With swiftness coming from a ninja with years of experience, Kakashi twirled in the air just barely avoiding the jutsu though not avoiding being hurled through the air due to the wind surrounding it. He quickly regained his balance and landed on the ground without much trouble, this time knowing not to take his attention off of his student.

"What was that with your blade?" Kakashi couldn't help but ask. It had truly come as a shock.

Naruto relaxed his stance with a small grin on his face. "I got the idea to put seals of my blade some time ago," he explained with a bit of pride, "During one of my missions I fought someone that could absorb chakra with a blade before shooting it back at me. I recreated it but it can't take as much chakra as the other could."

"I see…" Kakashi muttered, "Not bad Naruto. But we'll have to kick it up a notch now."

Naruto nodded with a determined grin on his face, "Let's do it."

The copy ninja quickly ran through hand signs before aiming at the blond, "Water Style: Water Shark Bomb Jutsu!"

A large shark made of water rose behind Kakashi, towering over Naruto before shooting at him at a rapid speed.

"Earth Style: Earth Dragon Jutsu!" Naruto countered with his own jutsu. The ground before him shooting upwards and taking the form of a dragon. It shot at the incoming jutsu, clashing against it and shooting water and mud in all directions.

"Well done…" Kakashi muttered to himself before focusing his chakra on his right palm.

The blond looked at the copy ninja through narrowed eyes. Lightning gathered around his hand which, at first seemed like a Chidori, but he knew better. Kakashi wouldn't use a jutsu like that on him since it was only a spar, it had to be some other kind of jutsu, but what?

"Lightning Style: Lightning Strike!"

Naruto's eyes widened as lightning bolts shot out of Kakashi's hand. His eyes shot up in alarm as he tried to get out of the way but wasn't fast enough to avoid being struck by one of the bolts on his left leg. He grit his teeth as pain shot through his leg before it began to shake uncontrollably, due to the electricity no doubt.

"That's a paralyzing jutsu," Kakashi explained with a chuckle, "What will you do know Naruto?"

The blond took a deep breath to calm himself before closing his eyes. He cleared his head of any thought as warm chakra washed over him. It gathered around his leg until the pain subsided. Naruto let out a breath as he let go off of the chakra he had gathered around his body.

His eyes snapped open as he stared at his teacher with a confident smirk on his face. "This isn't over Kakashi-sensei," he declared in excitement.

Kakashi nodded, "I didn't expect it to be."

"Well I do," Tsunade broke in, earning looks of disbelief from Naruto and Kakashi. "I can't have you two getting hurt in a spar," she explained, "Besides, now I have an understanding of Naruto's level."

"So… can we leave now?" Naruto asked while taking a quick glance at Ino.

Tsunade smiled before nodding, "Yes. Jiraiya and I will stay behind but you can leave if you wish."

Naruto turned to Ino with a smile on his face, quickly walking up to her and taking her hand on his. "Let's go," he whispered in slight panic, not giving Ino time to realize just what was going on. "You too Sakura, trust me," his face showed nothing but panic, making Sakura fall into step behind Naruto and Ino though looking at him oddly.

Jiraiya watched them leave with a raised brow. He turned to Kakashi only to see that he wasn't there anymore, apparently leaving the moment Tsunade said it was okay. Speaking of which, he turned to his old teammate with a scowl, "Why'd they leave like that?"

"Naruto's fifteenth birthday…" Tsunade growled with a glare.

The sage paled and, for the second time on his life, felt terrorized by Tsunade. He thought that she was overreacting, it had only been a trip to a brothel. No big deal. And why had Naruto sold him out like that? He knew that he and Tsunade were close but he didn't really need to tell her.

So, as he stared at the glaring Tsunade, he knew that things would not end well for him.

* * *

><p>Naruto and Ino walked along a busy street. After getting away from the outraged Tsunade, the couple had parted ways with Sakura, the latter saying that she was needed at the hospital.<p>

The rest of their walk had been filled with silence at first but was gradually getting a bit more comfortable for the two to talk. What had been awkward silence was now comfortable as the two enjoyed each other's company.

Ino had invited Naruto to her home since her parents probably wanted to see him again. Naruto felt a bit uneasy of meeting with Inoichi again, the talk about the spoon still fresh on his mind, but had decided on going with Ino.

"So, what happened while I was gone? We never got to talk about the others on our letters," Naruto spoke as he looked around the village with a small smile. He turned to Ino, admiring the way her eyes glowed with the light. His eyes softened before looking away, realizing that he had been staring at her too much.

Ino smiled warmly before latching onto his arm and leaning her head against his shoulder. "Everyone in our graduating class are chunin now," she began, "Well, except for Shikamaru. He was promoted to jonin a couple of months ago."

"Really?" Naruto asked, genuinely surprised.

Ino giggled at his shock. Everyone that had known Shikamaru had been surprised as well. "Yup," she assured with amusement on her voice, "He did stall for months but finally agreed to the promotion. He keeps on saying that it's a pain in the ass but he's doing well so far."

Naruto chuckled, that sounded like Shikamaru alright, "That's great."

The two continued to walk in comfortable silence, throwing occasional glances at each other and staring into each other's eyes on occasions. Some onlookers gave them knowing looks while others simply smiled at the show of affection, it was good to be young.

* * *

><p>Tsunade sat behind her desk once again. Her knuckles ached slightly and a bit of anger still lingered but she pushed it way for the moment. She still had questions and the pervert in front of her had the answers.<p>

"Did you find anything on the Akatsuki?" she asked with her expression turning serious.

Jiraiya nursed his aching jaw, sporting a few bruises and a bit of his clothes ripped off. "Not much," he admitted after a short pause, "They've caught a few jinchuuriki but not too many. According to my sources, the three-tails, four-tails and five-tails have been captured."

"I see…" Tsunade muttered with a heavy heart. These people were dangerous and got closer to confronting Naruto with each passing day. With this in mind, her expression grew firm, "How strong is Naruto, really? Will he really be able to put up a fight with the Akatsuki?"

Jiraiya couldn't help but grin in pride. He crossed his arms and let out a chuckle, "I wasn't kidding when I said that I would only focus on his training. That kid knows some of my strongest techniques. His at a level where he can defend himself against them but still has the time and potential to grow."

Tsunade seemed a bit skeptical, wanting to believe Jiraiya but finding it hard to.

"How about this?" Jiraiya raised a finger for emphasis, "Give him a test of kinds. Make sure he's at least jonin-level. Though it might be hard since that kid doesn't like to show off what he can really do."

"Good idea," Tsunade nodded, "I had been considering him for a jonin position. I guess I'll just give him a mission that's been sitting on my desk since yesterday and add it to the usual 'jonin test.' That'll prove if he really is able to defend himself."

* * *

><p>Naruto smiled as he stood in front of Ino's home. He felt a bit nostalgic seeing as how her house appeared a lot smaller than before. His attention turned to Ino, his girlfriend letting go off his arm before throwing him a smile.<p>

"Come on in," Ino offered as she opened the door to her home. Naruto followed after her, seeing a few changes in furniture arrangement but not losings its 'home' feeling. "I'm back," she called from where they stood.

"Welcome back," Miki responded as she exited a room before taking note of Naruto. Her eyes widened as a smile formed on her face, "You didn't tell me Naruto was coming back today."

Naruto chuckled, "Well, I never gave her a date. We only ran into each other by chance."

"You're always so impatient," Ino smiled as she shook her head, earning a sheepish look from her boyfriend.

"Impatient?" a male voice came from behind Naruto. The chunin spun on his heels to see Inoichi standing before him with a frown on his face. "You're not forcing my little girl to anything, are you?" he leaned towards Naruto, his eyes burning in silent fury, "Hmm?"

Naruto gulped while waving his hands frantically on the air, "O-of course not!"

Inoichi kept his glare on the chunin before being pushed away by Miki, "Leave him alone already. He just got back."

"But I can't let him corrupt my little girl," he complained as he was pushed into another room.

Ino turned to Naruto with an embarrassed blush on her face, "Sorry about that."

"Don't worry about it," Naruto waved her off with a smile. "It's nice to see they haven't changed at all," he looked back at Ino, eyes softening, "It's… relieving, to see that nothing's changed."

Ino smiled warmly before pushing Naruto out of her home. His eyes furrowed in puzzlement, wondering why she had just pushed her out of her home before her lips crashed against his. His eyes were wide in shock before relaxing against her lips and returning the kiss just as fiercely.

He missed this. Having Ino so close to him, being able to feel her heartbeat that assured him that the moment was real.

The two broke apart, resting their foreheads against each other as they looked into each other's eyes.

"I missed you," Ino let out quietly.

Naruto pecked her lips before a small smile formed on his lips, "I know but I will never leave like that again. And if I do then I'm taking you with me."

"You have to promise though," she replied with a bit of desperation on her voice, as if him promising would make it happen.

"We'll never be apart like that again," he began in a gentle tone. He kissed her lightly before pulling away, "I promise."

**Ch.2 End**

**That's it for this one. You got to see some of Naruto's new attacks and fighting style. I've no idea when the next chapter will come out but I'll try to get it out soon. **


	3. Wave in Trouble

**Thanks to those of you that reviewed, added to favorites, alerts, etc. Your support means a lot!**

**Last chapter ended the mini arc of Naruto's arrival to the village. So this chapter marks the beginning of the new Whirlpool Arc.**

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><p><strong>Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto<strong>

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><p><strong>Naruto: Making of a Hokage<strong>

_**Whirlpool Arc**_

**Ch.3 Wave in Trouble**

Naruto had always been a person that was easy to surprise. It was part of the reason why he would get distracted during some fights back when he was younger. This had changed after spending so much time with Jiraiya.

It hadn't been because of focused training or hours of meditation. Rather, Jiraiya had a knack for pulling his versions of 'pranks' on him at any given time. Expecting anything from the sage had become a necessity since his pranks never ended well for him.

Which is why, when he woke up to see Jiraiya sitting in a chair near his window didn't surprise him as much as it should. He simply raised a brow, unfazed by the sage's presence.

"What are you doing here so early Jiraiya-sensei?" Naruto mumbled as he rubbed the sleep out of his eyes.

Jiraiya grinned, "I just came by to give you some news about a new mission."

"Already?" Naruto let out a yawn as he sat on the edge of his bed, looking at Jiraiya oddly. "I don't really mind but having one mission right after the others seems a bit weird."

"Don't worry about it," Jiraiya waved him off, "Anyway, I only came to advice you not to use _it _yet."

Naruto nodded with a serious expression on his face. "Yeah I know," he turned his attention to the window. It was sunny with bright blue skies, pretty normal weather for Konoha. "So, any idea on what kind of mission it is?"

"I didn't really ask," Jiraiya admitted with a shrug, "All I heard was that it was in Wave."

This caught the chunin's attention. He hadn't been in Wave in a very long time. He wondered how they were doing now, last he heard was that they were a lot better than before. Of course, anything was better than what Wave had gone through during his mission which is why he was a bit skeptical.

"I came to say what I wanted. I'll be going now," Jiraiya rose from his seat before opening the large window on Naruto's room. "Good luck and remember to be careful. I'll see you around kid," with that the sage jumped out the window and disappeared in the distance.

"Can't he use a door?" Naruto wondered out loud.

* * *

><p>Ino stood in the Hokage's Office. Tsunade sat behind her desk as usual with Shizune standing at her side with Tonton on her arms.<p>

The kunoichi didn't have to think of why she was there at the moment. It was obvious that she would be getting a new mission but, glancing at Choji and Hinata standing next to her, she couldn't help but feel a bit thrown off.

For one, she and Hinata had never been on a mission together before. Any abilities the Hyuuga heiress might have were a mystery to her. Not to mention the awkwardness around them due to the Hyuuga's lingering crush on her boyfriend made things a bit uncomfortable around them.

'_She needs to get over him,' _she thought a bit bitterly.

The second thing that threw her off was the fact that Choji _and _Hinata would be going on the mission with her. The two were strong chunin on their own right, Choji having been training harder than before while the other had a powerful bloodline.

Judging by the level of her team, it was a mission with high risk. Also, according to Tsunade, their squad leader hadn't even arrived yet. Just what kind of mission would they be going on?

"I'll explain the mission briefly," Tsunade spoke in her serious commanding voice. Her eyes were sharp as she glanced at the three chunin before speaking once more, "I want you to explain this to your squad leader when you meet with him."

Ino frowned slightly, crossing her arms in annoyance, "How is this person the squad leader if he isn't even on time?"

Tsunade chuckled slightly at that, "I told him to get here a bit later. After all, he just got back to the village yesterday."

"Huh?"

"Sorry I'm late," came Naruto's voice from behind them. The chunin smiling sheepishly while scratching the back of his neck, "I uh… didn't know we had to meet this early."

"You're actually early this time," Tsunade pointed out in genuine surprise. Three years ago he had spent his last weeks in the village being late for everything so this came as a pleasant shock to her, "You're actually just in time to hear about the mission's details."

Naruto nodded as he moved to stand next to Ino, giving Choji and Hinata a small wave as he did so.

"Alright then, let's go over the details already," Tsunade began with her voice returning to its commanding tone. "You'll be going on a mission to Wave," she paused before taking out a scroll and setting it on the table, "Their boats are apparently being destroyed by an unknown force. You're free to look at the scroll Naruto since you'll be leading this team."

Naruto nodded before taking the scroll and opening it, reading over its contents with a skeptical look on his face. He pocketed the scroll before furrowing his brows in confusion, "A monster?"

"Apparently so," the Hokage repeated, a bit skeptical as well. "Take into consideration that the only people to see this… 'thing,' have been fisherman," she explained, "Anything could be doing this so I want you to find out what it is and stop it."

Naruto glanced briefly at his team. Ino wearing a scowl on her face, obviously thinking that it was way too incredible to be true. Choji on the other hand didn't seem to mind going on the mission as he simply stood there calmly. And lastly Hinata, a light blush adorning her cheeks and looking a bit confused as well.

"Is there a specific time we have to get this done by?" the leader of the group asked with his face sporting a small scowl.

Tsunade shook her head, "You can take as long as you want. Also, you are to leave immediately. I expect you came here ready to travel?"

Naruto turned to his group for confirmation, receiving nods. "Alright, we'll be leaving now," he announced before turning on his heel and walking to the door, "Let's go guys."

Tsunade watched as the group of ninja left the room. She still did not believe that an actual 'monster' was terrorizing the sea but, whatever it was, was powerful.

"Are you okay Lady Tsunade?" Shizune asked in slight worry, noticing her master's features.

The Hokage got back to her work with a huff, "I'm not worried about the brat."

Shizune smiled. Tsunade could be such a 'mom' to Naruto sometimes even if she didn't admit it.

* * *

><p>"Then he got hit by a frying pan," Naruto laughed as he and the others sped through the woods outside of Konoha.<p>

Ino giggled at the story. That sounded just like the pervert. It was a good to hear that he received punishment for how he acted. She threw a quick glance at her boyfriend, relieved that he hadn't turned out like the pervert. If he had then she could safely say that Jiraiya would end up in a hospital by her hand, or Tsunade's.

"So, what have you been up to Choji?" Naruto asked with a grin, glancing at his friend and marveling at how much he had grown since he had last saw him, now wearing some kind of samurai outfit.

"I've been alright," Choji responded with a chuckle, a bit relieved that Naruto hadn't changed much. "Just doing missions and being around friends."

"Not going to talk about the shop girl I see," Ino teased, making her teammate blush with a baffled look on his face.

Naruto's brows rose at that, quickly turning to Ino with an amused smile, "What shop girl?"

Ino laughed lightly, "There's this girl th-"

"Stop," Choji exclaimed with an embarrassed blush on his face, "We're on a mission right now. We can talk about that stuff later."

Naruto turned to Ino, the kunoichi giving him a slight nod with a smile. Yes, they would be talking about it later, the chunin figured with a chuckle.

He turned to the last member of the team, flashing her a smile as he spoke, "What about you Hinata? How have you been?"

"I've b-been fine," the Hyuuga spoke with a blush on her face, turning her face to the side as not to be seen.

The squad leader, seeing as Hinata turned her face to the side, figured that she didn't want to talk anymore so turned back to the road ahead while thinking of how the mission should go. They had time on their side but he really didn't want to risk more ships getting destroyed by whatever that thing was.

"How do you guys want to do this?" he asked his team with his voice returning to its usual 'business' tone. "Should we speed through the road and get there by nightfall? Or should we just take it easy and get there tomorrow."

"I say we get there today," Ino suggested, "Sure, we'll have close to no chakra once we get there but we can just spend the night there and leave the next day."

Choji nodded to himself, a pensive look on his face, "Sounds like a good idea."

"I don't mind," was Hinata's reply.

Naruto grinned, it looked like his team thought a lot like him. It was great since he didn't like traveling so slowly, "Good, then let's kick it up a notch."

The group of ninja increased their pace. Shooting past the area with their chakra-enhanced speed.

* * *

><p>It was dark as the team walked along the dirt path leading to Wave. The air was cool and pure, making the tired ninja a bit drowsy. It had been a long day, having been running all day with the aid of chakra. Even Naruto felt winded and had gotten his team to slow down the next couple of miles.<p>

"We're getting close to the bridge," Naruto announced. They went up a small hill to see the bridge standing proudly before them, all of them visually relaxing since their trip was over.

Ino let out a sigh of relief, "I'm never traveling at full-speed again."

"Tell me about it…" Choji agreed while panting slightly.

"Yeah," Hinata muttered with a few beads of sweat visible on her face.

"You're the ones that agreed on it. So don't complain," Naruto reminded with a smirk on his face, earning a collective groan from the team.

They walked in silence the rest of the way, passing by the bridge with no problems. There had been a sign but it had been too dark to see what it read, not that it mattered since Naruto didn't think that they would be staying for too long. It was a simple mission, in his opinion, since they would only need to find the 'monster' before taking it out.

The streets were empty when they finally entered town. It was in great shape, Naruto noticed with a smile on his face. A few stores were open and he could see that the buildings were in great shape, unlike last time when they have been falling apart. From what he could currently see, Wave was seeing its better days.

The squad leader looked around the streets for any sort of inn and that's when he saw one of the buildings with a light on its entrance. It was an inn and the building actually looked a bit cozy. He guessed that they could spend the night there, though he was a bit low on cash thanks to a perverted sage taking some of his money while he slept.

"Are you guys alright with this inn?" Naruto asked his team.

Ino shrugged, not really caring about where they slept. "I don't mind it," she had slept in the oddest of places thanks to her training with Anko. Even though the snake summoner left the village for long periods of time, she always managed to leave a strong 'impression' on their training.

"It looks fine," Hinata agreed in a weary voice.

"Let's go in then," the squad leader spoke before entering the building, his team following close behind.

The inside of the inn was warm. It's wooden floors glowing against the lights of the room with a single reception desk on the side, a woman, possibly in her early twenties, sitting behind it with a dazed look on her face.

Naruto walked to the receptionist, noticing that she was actually about to fall asleep. "Excuse me," he spoke in a clear voice, snapping the woman out of her daze. She looked at him oddly as he continued, "We want to spend the night here."

The receptionist squinted her eyes before reaching under her desk for a pair of glasses. She brushed aside her black bangs before putting on her glasses and instantly gaping. In front of her stood a stranger with blond hair, bright blue eyes and sun-kissed skin.

"W-what?" she stammered with a blush on her face.

Ino frowned slightly before walking over to her boyfriend and latching onto his arm, all the while giving the receptionist an annoyed look, "_We're _looking for a room. Are there any available?"

"We all are," Choji broke in a little nervously, noticing the silent fight between the two girls.

The receptionist gave Ino a dirty look before smirking, noticing that there were two guys and two girls. "Well, we have two rooms available," she spoke sweetly, "It'd be perfect for you guys. One for guys and the other for the girls. Will that work?"

"That'll work," Choji quickly agreed, not wanting to have the confrontation last any longer.

"Good," the receptionist smiled before taking out a pair of kids and handing them to Naruto, "Here are your keys. You'll have to pay in the morning so don't worry about it now. Have a good night."

"Thanks," Naruto smiled in appreciation. He had to remember the name of the inn, they had good service.

The chunin turned back to his team, giving Ino a set of keys, "Here are your keys. We'll meet in the morning and go to look for that thing. Get plenty of rest."

Choji and Hinata began to walk into a hallway leading to the rooms while Ino approached Naruto, wrapping her arms around him and inching her mouth close to his ear.

Naruto blushed at the closeness with Ino's breath tickling his ear and sending shivers down his spine, "I-Ino."

"it's a shame we couldn't get a room together…" she muttered seductively into his ear, smiling inwardly when feeling his body go stiff, "We could've had a great night."

Naruto could only gape as Ino left the room with a sway on her hips. _'What was that?' _he thought in alarm, a bright blush on his face.

* * *

><p>The group left the inn the following morning with the receptionist telling Naruto to come again while Ino glared at her. They had split the bill since Naruto couldn't pay it for himself.<p>

They then left the inn and, after talking it over, they decided to split up in order to cover more ground. All they would need to do was find someone to, not only tell them where the beast was, but to actually take them there or lend them the necessary transportation to get there by themselves.

It had been around an hour since they split up. Naruto was currently walking through a street filled with restaurants. Training with Jiraiya had taught him where to get information from other towns or villages. A place where information was easy to obtain.

A bar.

A place where people would talk about anything, though some people having a price for certain 'discussions.' Finding information in a bar was quiet easy since every man liked to boast and, with a bit of alcohol on their system, one could manipulate said person to tell him almost all kinds of things.

'_There it is,' _Naruto smiled upon seeing a bar on the corner of the street.

He quickly entered the establishment and raised a brow. It was early in the morning and yet, there were already people sitting there drinking. Though surprised, he made his way through the bar to see if anyone could tell him where the 'monster' was.

"What's a ninja doing here?" a gruff voice spoke in an angry manner.

Naruto turned his attention to the source of the voice, finding a men looking at him angrily. He had a big build and had a shaved head, dressing in a green shirt and brown pants.

_'Just a drunk,' _Naruto concluded.

"Well?" the man continued with a growl.

The chunin ignored the man, choosing to seat in a table instead of in the stool. This would give him more space to see who came in and out of the bar, in turn, making it easier for him to find someone that looked like he knew something.

"You bastard ninja!" the same man yelled as he approached the blond, his steps heavy against the wooden floor. He slammed both hands on the table with his face showing distaste, "We don't want any ninja here."

Naruto looked up at the man. His blue eyes cold as he glared at him, "Move."

The man flinched at the tone but held his ground with his mouth forming into a deep frown. "What makes you think you can tell me what to do?" he clenched his fists in anger, "You ninja are all al-"

"Enough," came a voice from behind the man, a hand clasping his shoulder.

The man turned to the owner of the voice, looking at him in surprise, "Tazuna?"

Naruto's eyes widened at that, leaning to his left to see old man Tazuna standing behind the drunk that had been getting on his nerves.

"Don't you know who this is?" Tazuna smiled as he crossed his arms, "Why, this is the person I named my bridge after."

The whole bar went silent, the bald man looking at Tazuna incredulously, "A-are you serious?"

"Of course I am," Tazuna assured before sitting in front of Naruto, looking at him fondly, "It is you, right?"

"It's been a long time old man," Naruto greeted with a grin, crossing his arms as he looked about the bar, "Didn't think I'd see you here so early though."

Tazuna chuckled. "Well, I figured I'd go for a drink," he admitted, "The town's in an uproar about this 'beast.'"

"You know about that?" the chunin asked in surprise.

"Know about it?" he laughed, "I was the one that sent the mission to Konoha. I didn't think that they would send you though?"

Naruto's brows furrowed in confusion, "Why not?"

The bridge builder smirked before crossing his arms, "Because I asked for someone good."

"Damn you…" Naruto growled with his right eye twitching. Tazuna just had a way to get under his skin.

* * *

><p>Ino walked near a river in the middle of town, a frown visible on her face. So far, she had yet to find anyone with any information on the 'monster.' It had been about an hour since they had split up and she was beginning to wonder why exactly nobody seemed to know where it was. She figured that finding the information would be easier.<p>

'_Maybe I should just give up on this,' _she mused before leaning against the wall of a home near the river.

"And what do you mean by that?" Ino heard a loud voice speak. Curious, she turned her attention to her left to see two people walking. Both with dark skin.

One was a girl, with red hair down to her shoulders and, what looked like a white bandana covering part of it. The other was a guy with spiky white hair that clashed with the black headband he wore. Finally, they both dressed strangely, mostly covered in white and grey. They were clearly not from the area.

Ino looked at them through furrowed brows before they turned in her direction, showing the metal plates on their headwear. She looked away from them, not wanting to catch their attention. She wasn't wearing her headband, which she was thankful for, though her clothes were still that of a shinobi.

'_Cloud ninja!' _she thought in alarm, throwing them a glance to see them turn away from her before continuing their walk. _'What the hell are they doing here?' _

Cloud ninja weren't the most peaceful ninja. They were responsible for many conflicts with other villages and had even tried to kidnap a Hyuuga some time ago. It looked like things had already taken a turn for the worse.

Ino began to walk away from the area with hurried steps. She needed to find Naruto and tell him about this.

* * *

><p>"Did you see that kunoichi?" asked the male Cloud ninja, now seen with a lollipop on his mouth. His expression was one of thought as he looked at his teammate.<p>

The female ninja crossed her arms, a frown on her face, "What of it? It's not like it affects our mission."

The male Cloud ninja shook his head, his expression turning grim. "If she was a ninja then that means someone sent her here," he began, "She most likely came here on a big mission. Probably to take over the whole village and in turn, kill us. Though she might spare you because you've yet to fully develop."

His response was a painful punch to his ribs. "Who do you think you're talking to?" the female ninja exclaimed in anger, watching in pleasure as her teammate rubbed his ribs.

The other ninja said nothing as they resumed their trek through town. He knew there was something odd about the ninja they had seen earlier. Why would Wave be involved with ninja's in the first place? It looked like he would need to watch their backs just in case.

After all, one could never be too careful.

**Ch.3 End**

**That's the end of this one guys. I know I kept the trip to Wave short but that was because I didn't want to write about the whole trip, that would have been a bit boring. **

**I don't know when the next chapter will come out because, well just look at the date. Midterms are coming and I have to study my ass off to pass. I'll try to get it out soon but I can't promise anything at the moment. **


	4. Encounter with the Beast

**Finally done with midterms last week. Sorry for not updating sooner but I got sick a few days ago and just felt horrible. Anyway, I'm back to the usual schedule starting today. **

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><p><strong>Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto <strong>

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><p><strong>Naruto: Making of a Hokage<strong>

_**Whirlpool Arc**_

**Ch.4 Encounter with the Beast**

Choji walked along the docks in calm steps. They were gathering information so it would be best to appear calm, as not to make others nervous. He had seen the looks some of the villagers sent his way. Unlike the Hidden Leaf, this villagers weren't used to seeing many ninja around.

"… That thing just wiped out everything!"

Choji turned his attention to the source of the noise, finding a group of men sitting around a round table on the outside of a restaurant. There were a few plates on their table with bits of food left meaning that they were just chatting at the moment.

'_Perfect,' _thought Choji as he moved closer to the group of men.

One of the men laughed, "Are you actually serious about this? Am I supposed to believe you?"

"Don't be a fucking idiot," another men growled, tightening his grip on the glass of beer he held. "You might have just gotten back but everyone here is freaking out about that thing. Ask anybody and they'll tell you the same thing I did."

"Excuse me," Choji broke in.

The group of men stopped their conversation, looking at Choji in a mixture of shock and annoyance.

"What does a ninja want with us?" one of the men asked a bit bitterly.

"I only want to hear of this 'thing' that's attacking your ships," Choji explained politely.

One of the men crossed his arms, his scarred face looking at Choji's. He held the stare before braking it and letting out a sigh, "You don't seem like a bad person so I'll tell ya. You're a ninja so you might be able to do something about that thing."

The man exchanged glances with the others before clearing his throat. "You see kid, we were attacked by this horrible monster. We were just fishing when a giant whirlpool appeared beneath us, but that wasn't the worse," the man paused before taking a sip of his drink.

"This thing just broke out of the water before shooting the ship with something. Next thing we know, we're shooting through the air and land miles away from where we had just been," his expression hardened, "It was by pure luck that a ship was sailing around where we landed, if it hadn't been for that… Well, I wouldn't be telling you this story."

"I see," Choji nodded, "Do you know of anyone who could take us there?"

The man broke into a laugh, "Hate to break it to ya, but nobody around here is that stupid."

"Thanks for your help," Choji bowed slightly out of respect before beginning to walk away from the restaurant.

His expression was serious as he walked. He had gotten some information on the beast, which he now thought was more likely to be real, but he hadn't found a way to get to it. They _could _walk there but the strain would be too much for them. And in the case that there was a beast then they would be too tired to take it down.

'_Guess, I'll go tell Naruto about this. Maybe he found a way to get there."_

With that last thought Choji left the area, unaware of the two pairs of eyes watching him leave.

* * *

><p>Hinata walked through a crowed street with many shops and businesses around. Wave was a very peaceful place in her opinion. It reminded her a bit of Konoha in that aspect. Everyone walking around the streets with no problems of their own.<p>

She looked down, sadness written over her features as thoughts of her own problems filled her mind. Hinata wasn't ugly, or at least she hoped not. Naruto and Ino... she simply couldn't understand them. When had that bond formed exactly? She couldn't even remember a time when they were together when they were younger. Why did Naruto choose Ino instead of her?

After Naruto's long trip she hoped to have him come back with changed feelings, after all time could change a person. Part of her knew that it was wrong to wish for their relationship to end but she couldn't help it. Her feelings for Naruto were still there.

The stinging feeling of tears gathering in her eyes broke her out of her train of thought. She wiped the gathered tears away before pushing those thoughts away. They weren't needed now. She was in the middle of a mission and had to be professional.

Her attention turned to a few civilians gathered on the outside of a shop. She could hear their voices from where she stood and could make out the fear in which they spoke.

"Did you hear? That thing attacked merchant ships!"

Hinata walked closer to the crowd in order to hear them better.

"But they weren't any ships. They came from the Cloud village!"

The Hyuuga's eyes instantly widened, taking a few steps back instinctively. Cloud… The village that had tried to kidnap her once. She could still remember how she spent days crying herself to sleep out of fear, remembering the ninja about to get her.

She swallowed hard before walking away from the crowd. Albeit a bit afraid, she knew that the others would help her if need be. She only needed to get to them soon.

* * *

><p>"How's life been kid?" Tazuna asked with flushed cheeks as he took another gulp of his beverage.<p>

Naruto chuckled lightly as a smile tugged at the corners of his mouth. "I've been great old man," he responded, "What about you guys?"

Tazuna shrugged, "Wave's doing great, well… except for that thing."

The blond's expression turned serious. "I need a way to that thing," he explained, "Do you know anyone that can take us there? Or at least give us a boat?"

"Can't you just rent one?"

"About that…" Naruto trailed off, knowing that he was currently out of money. "Let's just say that I don't really have the means to get one, at least legally of course."

Tazuna chuckled as he took another drink," Fine, I might know someone but he's not normal like us. He's a bit… odd."

"That's not really a problem," Naruto assured, "It's not like we'll need to talk to him for too long anyway."

"Alright then," Tazuna sighed out, "Go to the eastern docks. Look for the house on the peak of the hill overlooking the sea. Pretty easy to spot, there's even a statue there."

Naruto grinned before standing up to leave, "Thanks old man."

"Just make sure to visit once you're done," he responded, "Inari would probably like to see you again."

"Don't worry, I'll make sure to visit," Naruto affirmed before walking out of the bar. Now all he needed was to meet with his team.

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><p>Naruto made it to the team's meeting spot, right in front of the inn they had stayed in the previous day. His brows furrowed upon getting there, finding that everyone was already there.<p>

"Why are you guys here so early?" he asked upon coming closer, "This isn't even the time we're supposed to meet."

"We just found the information we needed quickly," Ino responded, with the other two ninja nodding in agreement. She turned her attention to Naruto, watching him expectedly, "What did you find out?"

Naruto ran a hand through his hair. "Not much," he admitted to them, "I only learned that the monster was attacking fisherman. But I might have found us a boat."

"Really?" Choji asked in surprise.

Naruto nodded, "It's not definite since I haven't met with the person but it's likely that he'll give us one." He cast a look of seriousness at his team, "What did you guys find out?"

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><p>"Let's see if I understand this," Naruto began while raising a hand to prevent anyone from interrupting. "That 'monster' can create large whirlpools and fire attacks. It attacks ships that get close to it and ended up doing the same to merchant Cloud ships. Now there are some Cloud ninja here, which means that they most likely came to investigate the disappearance of their ship."<p>

"That's pretty much it," Ino assured with a nod. She dug both hands into the pockets of her trench coat before letting out a sigh, "These Cloud ninja won't make things easy."

Naruto silently agreed while thinking of how to go about the situation. Ino had spotted the ninja but they had apparently not seen her. Surprise was on their side but then again, nobody in his group had the slightest clue as to what the Cloud ninja would be doing. They could be only looking for the source of the attack or even attack the monster, for all he knew.

"Alright everyone," Naruto broke a short moment of silence before reaching behind his head and untying his headband. "Take off your headbands, we don't want them to know where we're from in case we run into them… We can't have a conflict between the villages just because of this mission."

Choji and Hinata took of their headbands, the Akimichi wearing it on his forehead while the Hyuuga wore it on her neck.

Ino watched them from the side, not having a headband to take off herself, and chose to speak to Naruto. She still had a small question about all this.

"Naruto," she called. Naruto looked at Ino with a raised brow, giving the indication to speak. "What do you really think about all of this?" she looked firmly into his eyes, reminding him of how intense her gaze could be, "I know you're a bit worried about this so don't keep it all to yourself like you did before, okay?"

Naruto smiled. After all this time Ino could still read him like a book. He didn't know whether to be afraid or glad to have someone read him so well but, looking at the concerned expression on Ino's face, he found himself not minding as long as it was her.

His expression softened as he took Ino's hand in his, caressing it with his thumb. She blushed at the sudden action before he spoke, "I'm a little worried…"

"But not too much," he continued, after seeing a look of worry wash over her face, "All of you guys have grown a lot and I'm sure that you'll do great. It's just that the thought of facing Cloud doesn't sit well with me. Those guys are known for starting conflict. And I really don't want to be the reason for conflict."

"I was thinking the same thing," Ino commented as Naruto pulled his hand away from hers before unzipping his vest. She watched as he took out a single scroll before putting his katana's sheath away and finally taking off his vest and sealing it into the scroll. "You're vest too?"

Naruto nodded as he pocketed the scroll. "I don't want them knowing my rank, it'll give me the edge if we're to fight. Them not knowing my rank I mean," he put his sheath back in place before turning to the rest of his group, "Alright guys let's get going. We don't want those Cloud ninja getting to the 'monster' before us."

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><p>The two Cloud ninja walked along the docks of Wave. The female of the two appeared to be annoyed while the male seemed to be in a daze.<p>

"Seriously, why did he have to call me… dammit! Just thinking about it pisses me off," the kunoichi glared at the space ahead of her in obvious rage.

The other Cloud ninja looked at his teammate oddly. "He called you a _'he.' _It's no big deal," he spoke nonchalantly. The kunoichi glared but he didn't seem to mind, "Besides, you're not the most feminine person around, Karui."

Karui delivered a hard punch to the shinobi's stomach, making him gasp for air before doubling over in pain. "That'll show you," she growled before stomping away.

"I brought this on myself," he muttered while nursing his stomach.

"Come on Omoi!" Karui yelled from the distance, "Let's go already. We have to find a lead on the boats."

Omoi followed after her, albeit a bit slower since his stomach was still in pain.

* * *

><p>"I guess this is it…" Naruto muttered skeptically.<p>

The rest of the group held the same expression, looking at Naruto in wonder.

"Are you sure this is it?" Ino asked while looking at the home and wondering just what had possessed a person to put statues like that there.

Naruto chuckled awkwardly. Tazuna had said something about _a _statue, not four statues.

The home was simple. A handsome two-story home with wooden walls. Pretty normal overall save for the statues surrounding it.

They were statues of the original Team 7. On the left side of the house was a statue of Sasuke with his arms crossed, looking off in the distance. On the other side was a statue of Sakura, smiling with her hands crossed behind her back. The next statues only added to the awkwardness.

A tall statue of a smiling Naruto was in front of the front door, legs spread wide to allow access into the house. Finally, to finish things off, was a giant statue of Kakashi with his feet on either side of the house, squatting right above it and giving a thumbs up.

"J-just who the hell would make this?" Ino muttered in repulsiveness.

Choji looked at the statues with a twitching eye, "They're um…"

Naruto noticed the quick glance Choji threw him, as if wondering if he would offend him by talking bad about the statues, "Don't worry about it. Just say it, I'm looking for words to describe this things as well."

Hinata had an embarrassed blush on her face, "Do we..? D-do we really have to go in there?"

The leader quickly glanced around the area in order to see if anyone would see them walk into the building. _'Nothing,' _he turned to his group before nodding firmly, a look of panic on his face, "Let's go in before anybody sees us."

The group of ninja wasted no time in following the blond to the front door. Naruto knocked at the door quickly, not wanting to risk anybody seeing them.

"Who is it?" a voice asked from within the home.

Naruto let out a sigh of relief before speaking, "We're looking for a boat. Can we talk to you?"

There was nothing but silence for a few minutes before the door opened slowly, a single eye peeking through the half-closed door.

"Who are you guys?" the man behind the door asked in suspicion. "How did you find my home?"

"Can you let us come in?" Ino asked while looking out for anyone coming their way.

The man hummed, pondering the thought for a few moments before closing the door.

"Dammit!" Naruto was the first to react, knocking on the door loudly. "Come on let us in! I'm standing under my own crotch here!"

The door opened once again with the same brown eye studying the ninja. "How do I know you're real?"

"W-wha-?" Naruto let out in pure shock.

Ino slapped a hand to her face, not believing what was happening.

"We're real," Choji told the man with a polite smile, "We're just here to ask for your help."

The man studied them once more before fully opening the door. A man with short white hair stood before them. He had a short beard on his face and a scar running across his right cheek. He wore a plain grey shirt with light brown pants.

"So now you need me?" he scoffed before crossing his arms, "I knew you'd come crawling back to me."

Choji looked at the man incredulously, "Huh?"

Naruto ran a hand through his hair, looking at the man in annoyance. "Tazuna sent us here," he began in an attempt to make the man understand, "Tazuna, drunk bridge builder that said he knew you. He, told us that you would help us."

"Tazuna?" the man asked in recognition.

Naruto's eyes lit up in relief, glad to see that the man was finally going to understand, "Yeah, Tazuna."

The man smiled before placing a hand on Naruto's shoulder, "How have you been? I haven't seen you in so long? How is your daughter doing?"

The blond chunin turned to his team in defeat, looking at them for advice. Ino gave him a shrug, almost as if telling him to just go with it. He shook his head, knowing that maybe he was reading too much into it.

Turning to Ino once more, he found her nodding with a look of seriousness on her face. He let out a sigh before turning to the eccentric man once again.

"Um, yeah. She's fine, how are you… friend?"

"Pretty good," he responded happily before going into his home and opening the door for them, "Come on in Tazuna, don't be a _stranger._"

'_I am a stranger,' _Naruto thought in alarm but followed nonetheless. His team fell into step behind him, standing awkwardly around the house.

The man sat on a chair, looking at them oddly, "Why have you brought me here?"

Naruto's right eye twitched before taking in a breath to calm himself, "You brought us here remember?"

"I did?"

"You did," Ino broke in with an annoyed look before her expression grew serious, "Now tell us what we want to know. Why do you have those statues outside?"

The man chuckled before shrugging, "They did something for Wave so, why not?" He rose from his seat, taking a nearby cup and drinking its contents before setting it back down, "Can I get you something to drink?"

"We're good," Naruto answered before scratching the back of his neck nervously, "I'm just here to see if you could lend a boat to my good friends."

"Sure," he replied almost instantly. "It's at the bottom of the hill. There's a small cave there which I use as a dock. I don't sail anymore these days so feel free to do whatever you want with that boat."

Naruto felt guilty but knew that he was technically telling the truth. Tazuna _had _wanted them to get a boat which meant that telling the old man that Tazuna wanted a boat for his friends wasn't a complete lie.

"We have to get going," Ino spoke up, having watched Naruto's internal debate.

"I'll see you later Tazuna," the man waved as the group left his house. Once they left he couldn't help but chuckle. "Kids these days are too fun to joke with," he looked out the window of his home, watching the group moving down a set of stairs leading to the bottom of the hill, "They're good kids though, Tazuna's going to laugh when I tell him all of this."

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><p>A few hours had passed since the group finally found a way to move. It was a medium-sized boat with a white sail. The thing looked old and worn out but it still worked fine and, thanks to Naruto's wind jutsu, he could increase the speed in which they moved at any given time. Setting the thing up had been a bit difficult but they had eventually found a way to make it work.<p>

Naruto was leaning against the railing of the boat with Ino at his side. Choji took control of the wooden steering wheel, keeping their movement steady though he appeared to be a bit bored at the lack of different scenery. Hinata stood against the single cabin of the boat, looking a bit bored herself.

"Where was this thing supposed to be?" Ino asked Naruto after having enough of their aimless sailing.

The blond scowled as he looked around the ocean before narrowing his eyes in the distance. "Wait a second…" he muttered to Ino as he concentrated on the horizon.

Ino looked at Naruto oddly before turning the same direction and finding the shadow of a faraway mass of land.

"You see it, right?" Naruto asked her for assurance.

"Yeah," she responded, "There's something big over there. Probably an island."

The blond grinned before glancing at Choji over his shoulder. "Hey Choji!" he called out over the loud wind, gaining the Akimichi's attention. "Turn the ship rightwards, there's something over there!"

"Got it," Choji complied as he turned the boat to the right before it began to shake uncontrollably, "W-what the?"

Naruto and Ino stumbled under the boat's uncontrollable shaking, quickly gripping the railing tightly in order to keep from going overboard.

"What the hell is going on?" Naruto let out in surprise as he glanced at the area in front of them to see the water not too far away begin to spin in place.

His eyes widened in alarm before turning to Choji, "Turn the ship around! There's a whirlpool up ahead!"

Choji quickly turned the steering wheel but to no avail, as they were already being dragged by the whirlpool. "What now Naruto?" the Akimichi asked in panic.

Naruto gritted his teeth, not really having anything to get them out of the situation. Beside him Ino took a firm hold of his arm in an attempt to get him to calm down and think of something.

"Hinata!" Naruto called out once he thought of something, "Use your byakuugan to see what's causing this thing."

Said Hyuuga stumbled over the boat with her byakuugan active. She made it to the railing where Naruto stood before looking at the water with a focused gaze. "There's something in there," she informed with a look of confusion on her face, "It's a large chakra signature."

"There's someone in there?" Ino let out incredulously.

No sooner than she said that, the water in front of them shot up, an enormous figure emerging from the ocean.

The group looked at the towering figure in pure surprise, its dark blue scales and snake-like body highly visible now. It lowered its dragon-like head to stare at the group of ninja in rage, emitting a low growl with its piercing black eyes glaring into them.

"W-what is that?" Choji stammered in shock.

"Is it the monster?" Hinata asked the group in a bit of fear.

Ino gulped at the towering creature before regaining her composure and looking at Naruto for directions, "What the hell do we do now?"

Naruto smirked before unsheathing his katana, its blade glistening with the sun's ray. "We've found the monster…" he began as wind gathered around his blade, raising its sharpness and reach in a dull white glow. "Let's take it down. Everyone, follow me!"

Naruto jumped out of the boat with his team following after him. He made sure to land a safe distance away from the creature and just enough to avoid being caught in the whirlpool.

"I'm going to attack that thing head on," Naruto announced while throwing a quick glance at his team, "Choji, as soon as you see an opening I want you to attack with as much power as you can. Hinata stay with Choji and make sure he's not attacked on his way to that thing." He turned back to the beast before breaking into a run, but not before throwing one last look at Ino, "You're coming with me. Let's go."

"Right." The group chorused as Ino ran after Naruto.

The blond couple charged at the creature, running over the whirlpool though managing to keep their footing through using more concentration on their water walking.

Naruto leapt at the creature, swinging at its exposed neck once close enough. The beast bent its large body oddly before snaking under the swing. The blond was left airborne but quickly turned his body to watch as the creature neared Ino, who was already running through hand signs.

"Water Style: Water Dragon Jutsu!" Ino exclaimed as the water in front of her rose before taking the shape of a dragon and shooting at the beast.

The beast dove into the water in an instant, dodging Ino's attack without much trouble. She cursed before looking at the area beneath her, trying to catch a sign of the beast.

Naruto landed on the water with a plan already forming on his head. "Ino, I want you to use that jutsu again," he called over to her with a confident grin visible on his face, "Use it at the same time I use my own."

"Alright," she answered just as the beast emerged from the water between them.

Almost in synch, the two blonds ran through hand signs.

"Wind/Water Style: Wind/Water Dragon Jutsu!"

A dragon of pure wind formed in the air above Naruto, while one made of water formed in front of Ino. The two launched their attacks, shooting at the beast in a fast speed.

The beast let out a growl before spinning in place, creating large powerful waves around it. The two attacks crashed against the waves, dispersing with a shockwave though not stopping the large waves.

"Shit," Naruto cursed as he watched the large waves near him.

Ino ran through more hand signs before jumping high in the air and slamming both hands on the air beneath her, "Summoning Jutsu!"

Smoke gathered beneath the airborne Ino. Two large broad wings emerged from the smoke, followed by a large yellow beak and the brown feathered body of a large eagle.

Ino landed on its back before rushing at Naruto, the eagle swooping down and using its talons to pull Naruto out of the way and into the sky.

"Are you alright Naruto?" Ino yelled from the top of the eagle.

Naruto gulped when seeing just how sharp the eagle's claws were. "Y-yeah!" he yelled back before getting over his initial shock and turning back to the creature, "Drop me off on top of that thing, I'll kill it in a single attack."

"Alright," she agreed as the eagle began to move towards the beast, its broad wings creating gusts as it soared through the sky.

The beast watched the incoming eagle and turned its attention to the other two ninja. It struck its tail out of the water before swinging it in front of the two ninja, creating a large wave that threatened to swallow them up.

"Ino!" Naruto yelled, trying to get her attention.

"On it!" She answered loudly as the eagle stopped midflight before flapping both its wings at the two ninja.

A powerful gust shot at Choji and Hinata, sending them both through the air just in time to avoid being swallowed by the wave. The eagle proceeded to fly towards them, reaching them quickly before catching them on its back.

"Thanks," Choji answered with a bit of panic left on his voice.

Meanwhile Naruto turned back to the beast to see it gathering a large amount of water on its mouth, molding it and spinning it at a fast pace. The ball compressed into something much smaller before the beast took aim at them.

Naruto's eyes widened in shock before turning in Ino's direction, "Ino, get us out of here quick!"

The kunoichi raised a brow before turning to the beast, watching as it gathered water.

"It's not just water," Hinata informed with her byakuugan active, "There's chakra all over it. It's more like a concentrated amount of chakra mixed with water for form."

The beast shot its powerful beam at the large eagle summon. Naruto gritted his teeth before putting his katana in front of him while hoping to be able to take such an attack.

A large shockwave rocked the area as the beam met Naruto's blade. The blond let out a grunt as he struggled to keep a hold of his blade, absorbing the chakra of the beam with its seals burning bright in color and shaking uncontrollably.

"Dammit, I'm not going to be able to hold this off," he closed his eyes in thought before they shot open. "Got it…" he muttered to himself before taking his left hand off of the katana, instantly letting out a grunt upon feeling the pressure against his right arm.

He ran through hand signs with his left hand before putting it to his lips. "Wind Style: Devastation!" he let out most of his chakra with the attack, dropping his hold on the blade as the gust of air shot out of his mouth.

The powerful wind pushed against the highly unstable blade, taking it a fair distance away from them before it finally reached its peak.

"Hang on guys!" he yelled to his team as the blade exploded due to all the chakra.

Giant waves formed on the area, powerful winds shot in all directions and a powerful shockwave rocked the area, pushing everything on its path away.

The four ninja were left defenseless as the powerful shockwave sent them hurling through the air in no clear direction.

**Ch.4 End**

**That's it for this one guys. Longer than what I usually write but you guys deserved it for making you wait like that. **

**Anyway, as you can see, I gave Ino an eagle summoning contract (not to be confused with hawks). I wanted to give her a summon and, after thinking it over I figured that it would fit her abilities and character well. I'll show more of what she can do with the eagles later on. **


	5. The Ruins Among the Whirlpools

**Hey guys, happy holidays! I wanted to get this chapter out before the end of the month since I'll probably be busy the next few days. Anyway, enjoy. **

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><p><strong>Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto<strong>

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><p><strong>Naruto: Making of a Hokage<strong>

_**Whirlpool Arc**_

**Ch.5 The Ruins Among the Whirlpools**

"Dammit…" Naruto cursed as he clenched his eyes in pain. His head hurt badly but he didn't know why.

His mind was brought back to the times in which he would train with Jiraiya. The sage would sometimes train him until he dropped in order to improve his resistance even more. This resulted in him waking up with painful headaches from time to time, accompanied with his whole body aching.

The blond let out a breath before adjusting himself on whatever he was laying on. His brows furrowed almost instantly, his face itching slightly with whatever he was laying on.

He brought a hand to his head before opening his eyes to be greeted by sand and a few palm trees.

"Where the hell am I?" He pushed himself off the sand before getting to a kneeling position, his eyes narrowing as he took in his surroundings.

Recognition flashed through his features before he stood up abruptly. His head ached even more but he ignored it since there were more important matters at the moment.

His team wasn't with him. He was alone in the shore and, as he turned to the sea, knew that getting out wouldn't be easy since he could see many whirlpools in the distance.

He turned back to the unknown place. It was an island though he didn't know how big it was. He was currently on the shore overlooking the sea and an area filled with all kinds of trees. A dirt road could be seen from where he stood but it was pretty worn and had a few plants growing on it.

'_This place must be deserted,' _he concluded before checking to see if all his equipment was in place. He stopped momentarily on his sheath before remembering that his katana had been destroyed.

Naruto turned to a large tree before climbing it hurriedly. The moon illuminating the night sky was proof enough that he had been unconscious for hours and since his team hadn't found him then that probably meant that they were unconscious as well or still looking for him somewhere.

He made it to the top of the tree only for his eyes to widen in surprise. The island was huge.

The tree overlooked most of the place and he could even see what looked like a village in the distance.

"What happened here?"

The place was destroyed. Buildings were reduced to bits, several craters could be seen around the village and parts of the heavily wooded area were just beginning to grow. He wondered if a fire had done the damage but dismissed it as he turned to see the only building that appeared not to be destroyed.

It looked like the top of a tower with a few pieces missing though it still stood. He couldn't really make out the rest of the village since it was dark and gave up on it. He still had to find his team after all.

"Shadow Clone Jutsu!"

Dozens of clones appeared at his side before taking off in different directions. The real Naruto watched them leave before dropping down the tree and getting into a meditating position. Finding his team was his first priority and he would do so at all costs, regardless of what his teacher had suggested. Besides his headache would probably lessen if he used _it. _

* * *

><p>Ino woke up to a stinging feeling on her right leg. Her eyes shot open before looking at her leg to see what was wrong.<p>

She let out a gasp upon seeing her leg, having it stained with dried blood and sporting a large gash. Her medical training kicked in and she quickly began to close the wound while wondering just what had happened to them after the fight with the beast.

Her summon hadn't been able to avoid the attack but Naruto had used his blade to absorb most of it before it exploded. After that everything was blank which probably meant that they had fainted soon after, probably from the impact against whatever they landed on.

She looked around the area to see a tree not too far from her, making her come to the conclusion that she had landed against it and hurt her leg. Her chakra continued to close the wound as she scanned the area for anything else.

The area around her was filled with trees of all sizes. She couldn't really see much but she could make out a building in the distance. She immediately discarded the possibility of having landed in Wave since the town didn't have so many trees around it.

"Might as well look around…" she muttered to herself before running through hand signs and slamming both hands on the ground to her side. The area filled with smoke before a small eagle appeared at her side, looking at her for instructions, "I'm just going to scout the area."

The eagle seemed to nod as Ino ran through hand signs before aiming at the summon, "Mind Transfer Jutsu."

Ino took over the bird before flying up in the air. This particular summon animal was really useful when it came to scouting and for that reason the Yamanaka had made a contract with them. Of course it had taken time to adjust to how to move around but she had gotten used to it after a while.

They were in an island. It was fairly large and had a large village in the distance though it appeared to be destroyed. She could make out several whirlpools surrounding the island and knew that leaving wouldn't be an easy task. She got ready to release the jutsu before catching movement through the trees.

She moved closer to the ground to see Naruto moving from tree to tree. She was instantly relieved before watching the area closely in order to know where to go. After making a mental map, she released the jutsu and found herself back on her body.

Ino rose to her feet, her leg now feeling a lot better, before running up a near tree now knowing where to go.

* * *

><p>Naruto ran through the woods with a place in mind. He had been able to pinpoint Ino's location easily and was making his way to her. Of course, he had clones going to meet with the rest of his team and tell them to meet on the destroyed village. It was hard to miss and finding his team there wouldn't be too hard considering that there would be almost nothing blocking their view.<p>

"Naruto, over here!"

He was snapped out of his thoughts by Ino's voice. Instantly stopping on a tree branch, he turned his head to see Ino moving towards him with a relieved expression on her face.

"Ino!" Naruto greeted with a smile as she landed on the same tree branch as him.

She smiled and gave him a quick hug before looking around through furrowed brows, "I'm gald you're alright. Do you have any idea where we are? All I found out was that we're on an island."

"Yeah, that's all I know too," Naruto couldn't help but sigh before crossing his arms with a thoughtful expression, "It's probably the thing we saw on the ship."

Ino nodded though she held a skeptical look on her face, "It makes sense, but for the explosion to send us that far…"

"Who knows?" Naruto shrugged, "We might be on another island for all I know even if the chances of us missing one on the way here are slim. Besides, my katana was able to hold a lot of chakra so the explosion might have been strong enough to send us all the way to the faraway island."

"Then what do we do now?" she couldn't help but ask. Finding a way out of the place would be tough, considering that the place was most likely deserted and surrounded by whirlpools.

Naruto scratched the back of his neck in thought, "We could probably find a boat if we look enough… but getting through those whirlpools is going to be tough. Maybe there's an area in which there's no whirlpools."

"Maybe," Ino muttered in thought, "But it's most likely on the other side of the island but its pretty big. We have to cross the village to get there, I don't think we'll make it in one day."

"Don't worry about it," he responded with a grin, "I don't think that the beast is going anywhere soon. I'm sure the explosion hurt it too. For now let's just look for a boat and a way with no whirlpools."

"Then let's get going," Ino responded as the two began to move towards the destroyed town.

* * *

><p>Choji sat against an old building with a pensive look on his face. Not too long ago he had run into a clone of Naruto that had told him to follow him to the destroyed village. He had gotten there not too long ago and found Hinata already there but looking a bit tired.<p>

She was currently leaning against a building with a few beads of sweat trailing down her face. He had no idea what was wrong with her but guessed that she had gotten injured when landing on the island. If that was the case then Ino had to hurry since she was the medic of the team.

The Naruto clone had long since vanished without any other words than, 'wait here.' That had been over an hour ago and he was getting impatient. If they had yet to come then they were probably in trouble and he wanted to go look for them just to make sure they were alright.

"They're over there!"

Choji turned his attention to the source of the noise to see a smiling Ino and an annoyed Naruto. He let out a chuckle, knowing that Ino had done something to get on his nerves.

Hinata smiled wearily while holding a hand to her right side, "Good, they're here."

Ino was the first to arrive and placed both hands on her hips with a victorious look on her face. "Nice to see you guys again," she greeted before turning back to Naruto, "See, I told you to take that left turn."

Naruto crossed his arms before letting out a huff, "I knew exactly where we were."

"What's with men begin so stubborn about directions?" she let out tiredly before turning to the other two ninja, "So, are you guys alright?"

Choji shook his head before motioning to Hinata with his head, "Hinata doesn't look too well."

"I-I'm fine," Hinata let out with a polite smile.

Ino frowned before moving towards Hinata and looking her over, noticing the way she held her side, "Let me check on you Hinata, it might be serious."

"Don't worry, I'm fine," she assured weakly.

"Just trust me Hinata. Take off your jacket."

The Hyuuga blushed a bright red. "I-I can't do that… not h-here," she fidgeted as she glanced over at Naruto and Choji.

Understanding flashed over Ino's eyes before she turned to the two males of the team with a frown. "Get lost you two. I have to check over Hinata," the two males flinched at her tone before turning their backs on her though not moving, "What are you still doing here?"

"Um… where do we go?" Naruto asked with his back to them.

Ino let out a sigh, "Just go explore the village or something, we'll catch up later." The two ninja began to walk away, not daring to turn back since it would probably anger Ino.

The medic of the team turned her attention back on her current patient, a serious look on her face, "Alright. Now you can take off your jacket."

Hinata complied though the blush never left her face. She pulled off her jacket to reveal a large bruise on her right side. There was some bleeding but it wasn't something she couldn't handle.

"Alright Hinata, I'm just going to use my chakra to heal the wound. It should only take a couple of minutes to get rid of the pain," Ino spoke with an air of professionalism as her hands glowed a green color before putting them over the wound.

"Thanks," Hinata let out timidly.

Ino only nodded and focused on the wound, all the while trying not to feel jealous of how much Hinata had… developed.

* * *

><p>"I don't get why they had to make sure we were away," Choji complained as he and Naruto walked along the destroyed village.<p>

The two were currently walking on a stone path with a few plants growing on its cracks. Large pieces of rubble covered large part of it while the buildings around them in ruins, with a few appearing to have been burnt.

The building Naruto had seen earlier stood proudly on the distance, almost like a symbol of durability to the destroyed place.

"It's not like we couldn't just look way or just covered our eyes."

Naruto chuckled before digging his hands into his pockets. "Well Choji, it's like Jiraiya-sensei taught me. Woman stick together through anything, mostly during times when they really understand each other," he explained in a wise voice, "During this times man take the worst of it and can sometimes end up getting hurt. So us leaving was really something good."

"Really?" Choji asked incredulously.

"Really," Naruto nodded with a grin, "I saw it happen a couple of times when I was out of the village. So for future reference, never try to peek at a girl when she's with another and, of course, never get between them when they're arguing."

"You really learned a lot on your trip."

Naruto smiled sheepishly, "Let's just say I learned what not to do when seeing Jiraiya-sensei get into all kinds of trouble."

A comfortable silence filled the area as the two continued to walk. Naruto glanced around the area with an almost sad look on his face. He didn't know exactly what had happened but it looked like hundreds of people had been murdered, almost as if they had been attacked from all sides…

Naruto's eyes widened as he stopped dead on his tracks, looking around the area in pure shock. An old conversation ran through his mind as he glanced around.

_"Since we aided Konoha, other villages saw the opportunity to attack us. At first they were no trouble but when they attacked us at the same time, Whirlpool stood no chance."_

"Whirlpool…" he muttered to himself.

Choji turned to Naruto in confusion, "Is something wrong Naruto?"

'_This is Whirlpool…'_ he glanced around the rubble with a scowl on his face. _'What am I thinking?' _he scolded himself.

He was just overthinking things. The only thing that mattered now was finding a boat and getting rid of the beast before Cloud made its move.

He turned back to Choji before waving him off, "Nothing's wrong."

"Are you sure?" Choji asked with a raised brow.

Naruto smiled before scratching the back of his head, "Yeah, everything's alright. I just thought I saw something, let's just get going for now."

"Alright then," the Akimichi decided not to press on, knowing already how Naruto liked to keep to himself on certain situations.

* * *

><p>Omoi dug his hands into his pockets as he impatiently watched as the man in front of him counted the money he had just been given. Karui stood next to him looking really annoyed in contrast to his cool demeanor.<p>

"Alright, she's all yours then," the black-haired man nodded to them as he pocketed the money.

The Cloud ninja glanced at the boat they had just purchased. It was a simple wooden boat with the essentials for travel, nothing great but it would be able to take them out to sea.

"Let's go Karui," he nodded to his teammate.

Karui scowled, "Who said you were in charge?"

Omoi only rolled his eyes before beginning to move towards the boat.

"Wait, you can't go yet!" the man yelled in slight panic, making the two Cloud ninja look at him with frowns.

"And why's that?" Karui asked a bit heatedly.

"Just look," the man pointed at the distant star-filled sky with many clouds on the horizon, "You might be new to sailing so make sure to remember clouds like those." Omoi watched in interest as the man continued to speak, "Those are storm clouds. They might not look like much from here but I guarantee that there will be a storm later on tonight. A storm that your new ship won't be able to sail in."

The kunoichi glared at the man, crossing her arms in anger, "So you sold us a piece of shit."

"W-what? No!" the man responded nervously, taking a few steps back.

"Don't worry," Omoi assured before beginning to walk away with Karui doing the same a few moments later. "We'll find somewhere to rest for tonight and move out in the morning," he told the kunoichi, "And tomorrow we'll end this mission."

* * *

><p>Naruto walked among the ruins of the village with his full team trailing behind him. Ino and Hinata had joined him and Choji not too long ago. Hinata looked better though she still seemed in pain, which is why the group decided on finding a place to spend the night, not to mention that it was starting to rain.<p>

They were currently on their way to the only standing building in the area. It had large stone walls and gave the impression of being something grand even if it was only a story tall. The building was near a large river, though they didn't see where it went.

"We'll look for a ship tomorrow," Naruto announced as they approached the entrance of the building, a tall stone door with markings imprinted into it.

"Sounds good," Choji admitted with a small smile, "I'm still a bit shaken up by the fall here."

Ino nodded in agreement, "My head still hurts a bit so a rest should be nice."

Naruto approached the door before placing a hand on it.

Almost instantly the door began to open by itself, making the group take a few steps back in surprise.

"What was that?" Choji let out in surprise.

Naruto watched as the door fully opened to reveal pure darkness, only a bit of light coming into the place. He clenched his jaw before walking into the building with a hand gliding over his kunai holster.

Again, almost in single instant, the building trembled before torches lit up the inside of the building. It had large grey walls with few windows, pillars among the room Naruto stood on and many old paintings adorning the walls.

Ino looked at Naruto oddly, "Did you do that?"

"No," he responded with his eyes darting around the area, "I didn't." He threw a quick glance at Hinata before speaking, "Hinata, use your byakuugan and fish out whoever's here."

"Right," Hinata complied as her byakuugan activated and searched around the area. Her eyes widened in surprise when seeing many chains of chakra around the wall, connecting with each of the many torches on the room and the large stone door.

"There's nobody here," the Hyuuga informed, the team's stance relaxing upon hearing the news.

"Then how did the door open? And what about the torches?" Ino asked wearily.

Hinata focused her gaze on the chains of chakra. "There's many chains of chakra on the walls," she explained, "They connect to each of the torches which means that the chains are the things that lit them."

"Then what activated the torches?" Naruto wondered out loud with a deep scowl.

Ino shrugged, "Maybe it was us. I mean, the thing probably reacts to people, right?"

"That sounds about right," Choji agreed.

"Right, that's probably how this building works," Hinata added.

Naruto looked around, still not totally convinced but understanding that his team still needed rest, "Fine, let's spend the night here." He proceeded to make a few clones and have them guard the buildings entrance just in case of an attack be it from another person or some kind of wildlife.

The group of ninja took out a few scrolls before opening their contents. Each ninja took out their own sleeping bag before laying them on the floor of the building.

Ino put her sleeping bag down before turning her attention to Naruto, who appeared to be a bit worried. She walked over to him before placing a hand on his shoulder, his body relaxing slightly upon her touch.

"What's wrong Naruto?"

Naruto let out a sigh before turning to his girlfriend. "I don't know, I guess I'm a bit skeptical about this place being empty," he admitted before taking Ino's hand on his, "Maybe I'm just overthinking things."

"Don't let it worry you," she assured with a smile, squeezing Naruto's hand for assurance, "Hinata already looked around and there's nothing to worry about."

"You're right," he smiled before letting go off her hand and sitting down on his sleeping bag, "Let's get some sleep for now."

Ino nodded before laying down on her sleeping bag, "Right, and once this mission's done you're gonna take me out on a date."

"Am I?" he asked teasingly, earning a look from Ino. He chuckled as a smile formed on his face, "Alright, we'll go somewhere. I was planning on taking you out but I didn't expect this mission."

"Me neither," Ino agreed as a yawn escaped her mouth, "Night, Naruto."

Naruto got into a comfortable position before letting out a yawn, "Good night, Ino."

He closed his eyes though he still felt uneasy. Not about the place being empty, he trusted Hinata's abilities, but of something else. He felt as though he was missing something but he just couldn't place it.

He was brought back to his initial thoughts on the place. Of the possibility of it being the destroyed Whirlpool that Red Death had talked about in a mission that seemed to be ages ago.

Ino had looked really worn out and he didn't want to worry her. That's why he had simply dropped the matter without much hesitation.

Another yawn escaped him before he let go off those thoughts. He didn't feel like thinking anymore. It was been a long day and all he wanted to do was sleep. He would take care of things in the morning.

**Ch.5 End**

**That will be all for now. You guys probably already know what his island is and you'll see more of it next chapter. **


	6. The Uzumaki Trial

**Here's the next chapter guys. Most of you know where Naruto is but then again I didn't make it too difficult to know. Anyway, enjoy the chapter. **

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><p><strong>Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto<strong>

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><p><strong>Naruto: Making of a Hokage<strong>

_**Whirlpool Arc**_

**Ch.6 The Uzumaki Trial**

The following day saw the group of shinobi already discussing on what to do. They were still in the same building as before and had woken up not too long ago. All of them felt recharged and ready to go but there was still the matter of what they would be doing.

"We need to find a boat," Naruto spoke as he ran a hand through his hair. His spikes bounced back to their original spot as he crossed his arms. "Any ideas on where we could find one?"

The rest of the group looked at each other for ideas but none of them spoke. It looked like they didn't have any ideas either.

At times like this he, the leader of the group, had to make a choice. He closed his eyes as he went over the little information they had on the place. It was surrounded by whirlpools, destroyed with only one building remaining, a river behind said building…

Naruto grinned, having figured what to do. "Alright listen up guys," he began in a clear voice, "We're going to need to split up. One group looks for a boat on the shores and the other will move deeper into this building."

Ino looked at Naruto with a bit of surprise, "There's more to this building?"

He nodded before walking towards one of the pillars holding up the place. "My clones got bored yesterday and began to look around the building," he explained before placing a hand on the pillar, fading upon touch to reveal a hidden staircase going down, "There's a river behind this place so there might be some kind of ship here."

Choji seemed pleased with the idea, "Who's on each team?"

Naruto moved away from the pillar before throwing Hinata a glance, "Check to see how deep it goes." She complied as her byakuugan activated while he turned to Choji with a pensive look, "I'm not sure about the team. You and I have good physical strength while Ino has ninjutsu and I'm not sure about Hinata…"

"I can't see anything," Hinata called out with her eyes squinted on the pillar. The group turned to the Hyuuga with Naruto furrowing his brows.

He walked over to the pillar, narrowing his eyes in thought before glancing at Hinata, "Put your hand on the pillar."

The Hyuuga complied and placed her hand on the solid pillar, not revealing the staircase, "B-But how?"

Ino watched the seen with an analyzing eye. Naruto opening the door upon touch, torches working after he entered the building first and now this, a secret stairway that only opened for him.

"This place only works for you Naruto," she deadpanned. He turned to her with a serious look on his face, silently telling her that he was thinking the same.

"Ino, try to open the stairway with Choji," he ordered just to test her theory.

He scratched the back of his head when seeing that they couldn't get it open either. If he was the only one that could enter then having someone with him as backup would be a bad idea. He would need to go alone.

It wasn't like he didn't trust his abilities and, besides, there were really high chances that there was a boat there. Be it some merchant ship or a small getaway boat, there had to be something there.

He nodded to himself before turning to his team once more. "I'm going deeper into the building while the rest of you go look around the shores," he watched as his team tried to object but he held up a hand to stop them, "I'm the only one that can enter this place. Having two of us would be pointless. You guys could also cover more ground if there's three of you."

Ino stayed silent. They were shinobi on a mission and Naruto was only trying to get them out of there as soon as possible. Her personal feelings would be pushed aside for now, she had been to a lot of missions and knew decisions like these had supposed to be taken even if she didn't like the idea of him going off alone.

'_It's not like there's anybody here anyway,' _she told herself as Choji and Hinata began to leave the building after word from Naruto.

The couple looked at each other as their teammates left.

"Be careful Naruto," Ino spoke after a moment of silence.

Naruto smiled before nodding at her. "Don't worry about it Ino, there's probably nothing to worry about," his eyes followed after her retreating figure, a small smile forming on his face, "We still have to go on that date. I'll make sure to end things here fast."

Ino giggled to herself before turning back to Naruto. "No you're won't. Take your time and be careful or there won't be a date at all," she stated truthfully with a smile.

He simply chuckled before nodding, watching as she left the building. His mouth formed into a thin line as he moved towards the pillar, placing a hand on it and watching as it disappeared to reveal the stairway.

"Here goes nothing…" he muttered to himself before going down the stairs.

* * *

><p>Ino, Choji and Hinata moved through the trees of the deserted island. The Hyuuga was on the front of the group to scout the area further ahead while Ino and Choji stayed behind for support in case something came up.<p>

"The area up ahead is destroyed too," Hinata informed as they continued to run. She squinted her eyes on the area ahead before speaking, "There are a few trees just beginning to grow while there's some old trunks on the ground.

Ino frowned. Just what had caused all of the damage to the island? There was the chance of a bijuu having gone free and destroying the place but there would be more parts of the woods destroyed and some kind of path to where it went after being done with the village.

That only left war. Some kind of war must have happened and the village was attacked. It was still a farfetched idea since she didn't think a single village could do so much damage.

The team continued to move through the place with Ino thinking that she was close to a conclusion as to how the village ended up in such a state.

* * *

><p>Naruto continued down the stairs with his eyes alert for any sort of movement. He didn't know how deep underground he had gone and it was starting to get cool around him.<p>

So far he had passed many rooms. These rooms had nothing but old statues and paintings that couldn't be seen due to the little amount of light. The statues were on the odd side, being crafted to look like some kind of warrior with a sword on hand and a steel helmet on its head.

At first he had been quite alert around them, somehow expecting them to move but eventually dropped his guard. Each room had been just like the previous and he had grown used to seeing the human-sized statues.

Speaking of which, he was growing tired of passing by each floor. At some time he had even thought that he was being taken back to the first floor upon reaching a new floor.

'_Is there an end to this?' _Naruto wondered as he kept going down the stairs. They were put in a circular manner and each level of stairs seemed infinite now.

He looked down to see another floor a few steps away. A frown formed on his face as he took the last steps and, to his shock, see no other level of steps.

This was the last floor.

'_Finally!' _He cheered inside his head as he broke into a happy grin before glancing around this new room.

It was much like the others, having statues and painting on the walls but there was a big difference. In front of him stood a stone wall with writing on it and a small tablet next to it.

He approached the wall before reading over its contents.

_The trial starts here,_

_Show your intelligence and power._

_Don't back down at any moment_

_That is the way of the Uzumaki._

Naruto took a step back as he read over the wall again and again. This was the home to his ancestors. His first thoughts had been correct.

He was on Whirlpool.

_'No,' _he berated himself as he shook his head, _'This isn't the time to think of that. I have to look for a boat.'_

His expression grew serious as he glanced at the tablet. Without much thinking he placed a hand on it to feel its texture but it sunk under his hand.

A rumbling sound echoed through the room as the stone wall before him began to open. Splitting into two with both sides disappearing into their respective walls. Dust emitted from the walls and Naruto shielded his eyes as he studied the new room.

It was small but had bookshelves filled with scrolls on either side. The wall standing in front of him had a katana on display. It had a grey and white hilt with the blade being a black color but having a silver edge. It was curved on the end and appeared to be well made.

He walked into the room and found the wall behind the katana to have writing as well.

_Take all of this, you'll need it._

Naruto nodded to himself before using a single hand seal. "Shadow Clone Jutsu," four clones appeared on his side. He dug into his vest's pockets before taking out four carrying scrolls.

Handing them out to his clones, Naruto gave his order, "Put all of the scrolls into the scroll I just gave you. After you're done, give them to me and dispel."

The clones nodded at him before moving to different sections of the small room and sealing the scrolls into theirs while Naruto turned his attention to the katana.

He walked over to it, not able to stop himself from feeling a bit of excitement. A grin etched on his face as he reached for it but, just as he was about to touch the hilt, a clone tapped him on the shoulder.

"We're done boss," the clone informed as it handed him its scroll before disappearing. The others clones did the same as Naruto pocketed each scroll.

He made sure they were safely stored before turning back to the katana. It was then that he noticed that it came with a sheath safely placed under the weapon. The sheath was a black color but he didn't have time to admire it as he placed it on his back eagerly.

With no more interruptions, he took the katana on hand, admiring how well made it was.

Just then the ground began to shake violently, dust and debris falling from the roof of the room.

"What the hell?" He let out before turning back to the wall and noticing more writing.

_But remember that the more you take, _

_The harder the trial. _

"Of-fucking-course," he growled before running out of the small room just as the rumbling stopped.

His brows furrowed in confusion as he stood in the middle of the dark room, wondering just what had happened. He didn't have to wait for an answer as water began to come out of holes in the wall he hadn't seen earlier due to the lack of light. His eyes shot up in alarm as the water began to fill the room rapidly.

He quickly turned to the stairs but froze when one of the statues trembled before turning to look at him through bright red eyes. More statues began to move as the whole place lit up, revealing hundreds of holes on the wall with water pouring out of them.

All statues began to move towards him, swords raised and ready to strike. Naruto took a few steps back before sheathing his new katana.

The water now reached his ankles, telling him that if he didn't hurry then he would be dead. Using chakra to stand on the water, not wanting to have his movement slowed, he began to run through hand signs before placing both hands on the ground.

"Earth Style: Dark Swamp!"

The ground beneath the statues turned to mud and began to swirl inwards, taking them all in as well as a large portion of water.

With a bit of silent cheering, Naruto quickly made for the stairs before moving up the stairs. He soon made it to the next floor when his senses suddenly shot up in alarm.

Wasting no time he leaned into a crouch before jumping to his right and into the new room just as a heavy metal sword swung past where he had just been. A few steps broke under the powerful blow as Naruto noticed where he had landed.

He was surrounded by statues, all of them ready to attack, as the water continued to raise.

"Damn..." he cursed when noticing more of those holes in this room as well, already beginning to drip with water. The chunin quickly ran through hand signs once more as wind gathered around him, "Wind Style: Slicing Winds!"

Blades of wind shot at the gathered statues, slicing them to pieces as he turned to the stairs. His eyes narrowed when seeing two statues blocking the way before charging. He pointed a hand at them, a blade of wind shooting their way and cutting them in half.

He made it to the stairs just as the place began to shake violently once more. His jaw clenched as he gripped the railing of the stair to keep from falling.

The shaking continued as he looked down the stairs to see the water raising rapidly. He gritted his teeth before running up the stairs once again, the shaking stopping a few moments later.

Thankfully the next few rooms had no statues blocking the path. He had no such luck on the following room however, finding a few statues standing on the stairs with their weapons raised. He frowned before moving away from the stairs and glancing around the area.

A relieved smile formed on his face when noticing that it was one of the first rooms he had entered. This particular room was a lot bigger than the previous ones, holding more statues and having more holes on the walls.

Naruto unsheathed his katana as the statues gathered around him. Wind gathered around the blade as he charged at the closest statue and cut it cleanly in half, both sides dropping on the ground before he raised his blade to parry an incoming swipe from one of the statues.

He jumped away from the statues as more wind gathered around him. The sound of incoming water rung on his ears but he kept calm. If he lost his cool then he was done for.

"I'm done with this," he growled as the wind around him began to swirl violently around his blade. "Take this!"

He swung his blade as a wave of wind shot out of it, cutting through the statues with ease and pushing others aside. More statues moved towards him and he quickly used his free hand to form a hand seal.

"Shadow Clone Jutsu!" Dozens of clones appeared at his side, all of them with blades on their hands. Naruto pointed at the statues before shouting his order, "Go!"

The clones charged at the many statues, cutting through them with their blades sharpened by wind. Some were dispersed by the many statues but the clones pressed on, giving Naruto the opportunity to make a run for the stairs.

Another group of statues moved in front of the real Naruto, blocking his way as they broke into a charge. Quick to think, Naruto ran through hand signs before reaching for a kunai and throwing it at the incoming statues.

The kunai turned to hundreds as it sailed through the air, stabbing into the statues as the rain of kunai kept on going.

Naruto smirked as the horde of kunai took down the last of the statues blocking his path before he ran to the stairs once more. His clones continued to fight but were being overwhelmed by the statues. He didn't turn back as he quickly moved up the stairs while sheathing his blade.

He formed a single seal as he ran, eyes sharp in pure alert, "Shadow Clone Jutsu."

Stopping dead on his tracks, five clones appeared before Naruto. "Go up ahead and clear the way of any statues," he ordered as the clones ran up the stairs.

Naruto threw a glance at the area under him to see it filling up with water even faster. He continued his run before the memories of a clone hit him, having been dispersed upon reaching the next floor.

Another memory hit him, this time of a clone being pierced through the chest. He paid the memory no mind and continued on moving, he was close now he could feel it. The path ahead was clear and he only needed to move faster.

The last three memories hit him at once, the three clones having been dispersed upon reaching the final room. His eyes narrowed as a Rasengan formed on his hand.

Statues blocked the path to the stairs as Naruto leapt at them while jabbing the Rasengan into one's chest, digging into the statue before sending it flying away. He followed with a series of hand signs before putting a hand to his mouth.

"Water Style: Raging Waves!" A powerful shot of water emitted from his lips and pushed the last statues away just as he felt water around his feet.

He sped his pace as he ran the last steps of the building before finally jumping out of the pillar, rolling with the momentum and managing a kneeling stance. His breathing was heavy as he looked at the pillar he had come out of, expecting to see it overflowing with water but to his surprise it remained unchanged.

After a few quiet moments he allowed himself to relax, dropping his shoulders slightly and sitting on the ground with a sigh of relief. He leaned his body back, supporting himself with his arms as he glanced around the room in which he had left only a few hours ago.

"That was close," he chuckled with a weary smile. He dropped on the ground with his arms extended, ignoring the uncomfortable feeling of the blade on his back. His eyes closed as he regained his breath before hearing rumbling once more.

He was on his feet instantly, looking around the area rapidly.

Everything stayed still before the wall opposite of the entrance began to rumble. Part of the war began to open up, much like the wall on the very bottom of the building. Dust emitted from it as the two stone walls opened up to reveal a secret room.

Eyes focused for any hostile movement, Naruto entered the new room to find it to be some kind of indoor harbor. It was a spacious room with a pool of water covering most of it and, more importantly, a boat floated on it.

"So that's what all the water was for..." he muttered to himself as the place began to rumble once more, this time opening a wall in front of the ship. Like a gate, it led to the river behind the building.

_'This must have been some kind of secret way for them to escape,' _he mused before smiling happily.

He had found not only the boat, but a new katana and many scrolls, though he still didn't know what they held. It looked like his current mission had been accomplished.

Now all he needed was to find his team.

* * *

><p>Omoi kept a frown on his face as he and Karui sailed through the seas around Wave. It had been a few hours since they had sailed off and they had yet to run into anything. He was starting to think that maybe the beast had been a one time occurrence or that maybe it just left.<p>

Either way he knew that if they didn't find anything soon then there would be trouble. Not from his village or superiors but from his teammate.

It wasn't like he couldn't do anything against her but she could find a way to get on his nerves rather easily. So he wished for anything to come up since his teammate was starting to get impatient judging from the way her hands were crossed over her chest. She had never been one for patience instead being the complete opposite, rash and hot-headed.

Karui was a good enough ninja, not that he'd ever tell her, but her temper would get them into trouble if pushed enough.

"Where the hell is that thing?" Karui complained from the deck. Omoi simply continued to sail the boat, not wanting to get caught up in an argument. "How long have we been out here?"

"A few hours," Omoi responded calmly while looking at the sea and noticing something on the distance. With his attention taken to the thing, he tried to make out what it was.

It appeared to be a large island. He looked at a map he had set near him and fought the urge to smile contently. They were around the area the old man that had sol them the boat told them not to go to since, apparently, nobody could get in there since it was surrounded by whirlpools.

He figured that whirlpools were the key to this mission. Not only did this island have them but the sea monster did as well, meaning that the two were linked somehow.

The ship turned in the direction of the island, sailing with the wind and picking up speed.

Karui turned to Omoi with a quizzical look on her face, "Where are we going now?"

Omoi pointed at the island with his free hand, "We're going to that island. The monster should be there."

* * *

><p>Ino, Hinata and Choji walked along the shore of the island. It's sand glistened against the sun's rays as the group moved through it.<p>

Many pieces of wood filled the area with a few rusty pieces of metal here and there.

It looked like the site of a battle. As if a group of ninja had entered the island through there and fought on the same shore in which they stood now.

Hinata looked around with her byakuugan for any kind of ship they could use but found nothing but destroyed planks of wood.

"Where should we go next?" Choji asked the two kunoichi as he looked around the place in vain.

Ino pursed her lips as she crossed her arms. "I guess we could just move along the shore and hope to find something," she shrugged before turning to the sea with a calculating eye.

If someone had made it to shore then that meant that there was a way in and out of the island around there but she couldn't see any. All she saw was the same whirlpools surrounding the shore with no sign of any passageway.

Her eyes widened as a thought struck her. "Hinata," she called out while pointing at the faraway whirlpools, "Could you scan that place with your byakuugan."

Hinata seemed a bit confused by the request but complied. Her brows rose in surprise as she scanned the area, finding a large amount of chakra coming from one of the whirlpools.

"One of them is fake," she informed with shock on her voice, "It's some sort of genjutsu."

Choji smiled in relief, happy to have found a way out of the place, "Then that means we can get out of here."

"Right," Ino agreed with a smile, "We should meet back up with Naruto and tell him about this. Maybe he even found a boat we could use."

"W-Wait!" Hinata called out with a bit of panic on her voice. The other two shinobi looked at her in confusion before she pointed at the horizon, "There's a ship coming this way."

Ino and Choji squinted their eyes while looking at the horizon but saw nothing but water.

"What kind of boat is it?" Ino asked the Hyuuga.

Hinata focused on the faraway boat with the veins around her eyes straining. "It's a small boat," she finally spoke after a moment of silence, "A bit smaller than the one we used yesterday."

The group focused on the horizon before the water suddenly shot up. The beast that had attacked them the previous day emerged, howling loud enough for them to hear.

"It's going to attack the boat," Hinata let out in shock as she continued to watch the scene with her byakuugan.

Ino quickly ran through hand sings before slamming both hands on the ground. "Summoning Jutsu!" Four eagles appeared before her, three large ones and a small one. She turned her attention to the small one before speaking, "Go to the destroyed village and look for a guy with blond hair. Get him to come here."

The eagle nodded before flying away while Ino turned to the rest of the team. "Get on one eagle each," she ordered while motioning for the eagles standing on the ground. "We're going to help out those people while the other eagles goes to get Naruto back."

The two ninja agreed and got on their respective eagle's back. Ino climbed onto her own eagle before they began to move, flapping their strong wings and rising through the air.

Ino kept a serious look on her face as the eagle flew through the blue skies. Whoever was being attacked needed their help and they would give it to them.

They would take down the beast once and for all.

**Ch.6 End**

**That's it for this one. Thanks for reading, next chapter should come out as usual. **


	7. Clash! Leaf vs Cloud!

**Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto **

* * *

><p><strong>Naruto: Making of a Hokage<strong>

_**Whirlpool Arc**_

**Ch.7 Clash! Leaf vs. Cloud!**

"Still no sign of it…" Omoi muttered to himself as he steered the ship.

It had been roughly about an hour since he and Karui had made it near the island. The place was covered in whirlpools and seemed to be deserted, at least from what he could see. There was still no sign of the creature, much to his displeasure and he was growing a bit impatient.

'_Maybe I was wrong about this place being a key factor,' _he glanced around the ocean but found no signs of movement.

On the deck, Karui glanced around with a scowl on her face. She was tired of looking for that thing and was starting to think that finding it would take hours if not days. The weather only added to her irritation, the sun was burning her skin and she had to constantly shield her eyes from it since Omoi moved the ship around without saying anything.

Her frowned deepened as she glanced over her shoulder at her teammate, "I'm tired of looking for this thing. Let's just leave."

Omoi continued to look around, not having paid attention to his teammate. He really didn't need to since he knew her too well by now. She was probably tired of looking around and wanted to leave, that much was obvious to him but he still didn't think they should leave so suddenly.

"Hey listen to me!"

His shoulders dropped slightly at the sound of Karui's scream. If he didn't do anything then she would only drive him insane.

"Listen Karui we can't just lea-" Omoi begun but stopped abruptly, his eyes hardening and darting around the area.

Karui furrowed her brows at her teammate's odd behavior, "What the hell are you doing?"

His eyes widened in shock before snapping his head towards Karui, "Get out of the boat quick!"

Hearing the alarm in his voice, Karui jumped out of the boat with Omoi following behind her. The two landed on top of the ocean as the water erupted before them, splashing and getting their clothes wet. Waves formed, rocking their boat back and forth as a large figure emerged from the ocean.

"What the hell is that?" Karui let out as she gaped at the creature. Its head was in the shape of a dragon while the body resembled that of a snake. It had dark blue fins on parts of its back and light blue whiskers.

Omoi narrowed his eyes on the beast before taking out a long white katana strapped to his back. He twirled it on his right hand before putting it to his side.

"Be careful with your lightning attacks. We're on the ocean and I don't want to get caught in one of your attacks," Omoi told Karui as he bent his knees slightly, ready to jump at the beast.

Taking out her own katana from its red sheath, Karui scoffed, "As if I'd do something so stupid. Just leave this thing to me, I have to get rid of this pent up energy."

Before Omoi could do anything, Karui was already charging at the creature. _'Damn, that idiot probably forgot we have to capture this thing.'_

Omoi followed after Karui just as the beast raised its large tails before swinging it at them. The two easily jumped over it and continued their charge while the beast pointed its face at them, gathering water on its mouth before shooting it at them.

The two Cloud ninja twirled in opposite directions, dodging the incoming torrent of water without missing a beat. Omoi leapt at the beast head on while Karui moved to its back.

The beast sneered before biting at the incoming Omoi who struck his katana in front of him defensibly as lightning danced around the blade. Large fangs met with the blade before the beast screeched in pain due to the electricity. It recoiled back as the electricity left its body and didn't notice the ninja running up the length of its body.

Karui made her way to the beast's body, raising her blade once she made it to its head before slashing at it without hesitation. Blood splattered out of the wound as the beast let out another screech of pain, throwing its head back before retreating back into the water.

The Cloud kunoichi jumped off the beast and landed safely on the water, watching as it dove into the ocean.

"We have to capture it so don't inflict any fatal wounds," Omoi reminded. He kept his eyes on the water since he knew that the beast would attack once again. Both eyes narrowed when noticing movement and, in a show of agility, he jumped back in a backward somersault just as the water beneath his feet shot up.

The beast emerged once more, its black eyes glaring into them before letting out a loud roar. Whirlpools formed around it as it brought its focus to the two ninja while raising its tail to attack.

"Body Expansion Jutsu!"

Before anybody could move, Choji fell down from the sky with his right arm increasing drastically in size before it met the beast's head with a loud impact. It's mouth snapped shut before it was sent underwater from the force of the attack.

Water shot on all sides as Choji flipped in the air before landing safely before the two Cloud ninja, both of them looking at him in surprise.

Omoi studied the newly arrived person and took quick notice of the headband he wore, "A Konoha shinobi, huh?" No sooner than he said that Ino and Hinata fell from the sky as well, landing behind Choji, "Hmm? So everybody's here already."

"What are Cloud ninja doing here?" Ino spoke up with a serious look on her face.

Karui smirked before dropping into a fighting stance, "Two different groups of ninja meet for similar missions… What do you think happens now? Even if we tell you why we're here there's no point, you won't be leaving this place alive."

Ino gritted her teeth. She knew that the Cloud ninja wouldn't make things easy but she didn't expect them to fight while the beast was still around. No matter the village, that was just a stupid thing to do.

"What are we doing then?" Choji asked the two kunoichi, not wanting to rush things. "Do we fight them?"

"There's no choice," Ino responded before turning to Hinata, "Back us up and have your byakuugan active so that you can warn us of the beast coming back."

Hinata nodded in understanding, "I got it."

Ino moved next to Choji, taking out a kunai. Behind her, Hinata had her byakuugan active as she scanned the area for the beast.

Karui clicked her tongue before charging at Ino with her blade held back. She watched as Choji ran at her once close enough but he was blocked by Omoi who held a look of seriousness as he pointed his blade at the ninja, silently telling him not to move.

Seeing as Karui continued her charge, Ino was not one to stay still. She pulled out another kunai and, with deadly accuracy, flung them at the incoming ninja's legs. They neared the Cloud ninja before she stopped dead on her tracks and swung her blade down, effectively knocking the kunai aside.

'_That was too close,' _Karui frowned to herself as she turned back to the Leaf kunoichi, watching as she ran through hand signs before taking aim.

"Water Style: Raging Waves!"

A torrent of water shot out of the kunoichi's mouth but Karui didn't have great reflexes for nothing. She quickly twirled to her right as the torrent of water shot past her while making a mental note to wash out for the kunoichi's aim. It was too precise for her liking.

Ino found herself smirking as Karui charged at her once more, she was too predictable. She quickly ran through the necessary hand signs as the water in front of her began to stir. She held the hand seal in place, waiting for Karui to get closer before finally using her jutsu.

"Water Style: Water Fang Bullet!"

Small swirls of water appeared around Karui before spinning and shooting at her. Her eyes widened in alarm as she ducked under the incoming attacks but took one on the back, making her stumble a few feet forward before regaining herself.

Her back ached but she didn't have time to linger on it since more of those swirls were appearing around her. "Dammit…" she cursed before running through hand signs only to stop before she could be done. No, her lightning attacks would be too dangerous to use.

Instead she jumped high in the air before raising her blade and taking aim.

Ino was one step ahead and leapt at Karui, her kunai clashing against her blade before the two moved away from each other.

Karui gritted her teeth as she gripped her katana tighter. She was at a disadvantage. Most of the jutsu she knew were lightning based and using them in the ocean would only get her and Omoi hurt as well. She had only her kenjutsu and taijutsu to rely on but the Leaf kunoichi was always able to keep the appropriate distance from her.

'_Damn,' _she shifted her stance as she wondered on how to fight this one.

* * *

><p>Choji saw himself in a disadvantage as Omoi moved towards him once again. The Cloud ninja was fast and him having a sword meant that Choji could only dodge.<p>

He frowned deeply as Omoi swung at him but, before he could get close enough, Choji had already moved away from the attack, putting a fair distance between them.

"I'm going to catch you sooner or later," Omoi began with his expression still being thoughtful, "Why not just leave? I'm not like my teammate, I'll let you go if you don't wish to fight. It'll be too much trouble to fight you guys."

Choji couldn't help but chuckle, earning him a confused look from Omoi. "Sorry but you just remind me of a friend of mine," he chuckled before getting into his taijutsu stance, "And there's no way we're leaving. I'm sure none of us want to do that."

Omoi let out a sigh, _'Well, I tried.'_

He prepared to attack but stopped when the Hyuuga suddenly ran closer to her teammates.

"It's coming up again!" Hinata informed with a look of panic on her face.

The gathered group of ninja looked around in wonder before the water shot up around them. Whirlpools formed on the area, forcing the group of ninja to move away as the beast resurfaced once more. It bared its large teeth at them as it studied the gathered ninja.

Ino clenched her fists before turning to Choji. Out of the three of them, only he could manage to hold off the creature due to his physical strength.

"Choji, keep that thing away from us. Hinata and I will fight these two ninja," Ino decided as the beast let out a growl.

The Akimichi moved towards the creature, Ino taking his place against Omoi while Hinata moved to stand before Karui.

"A Hyuuga," Karui muttered with a bit of eagerness on her voice. This kind of enemy would be fun to say the least. Clutching her katana tightly, she rushed at the Hyuuga.

Meanwhile Omoi kept his gaze on Ino with a frown on his face. All of this fighting seemed pointless to him. Now there was a single ninja taking on the beast which would undoubtedly end up with him dead. But then gain, he knew better than to linger on it. If it was a fight they wanted then there was nothing he could do.

He had to finish his mission after all.

* * *

><p>There were a lot of people, Gaara observed.<p>

He and an escort team consisting of two jonin and three chunin, were getting ready to leave the village. The Chunin Exams would start in a few days and he wanted to get there a bit early in order to have the chance to have a word with the ninja representing his village.

A crowd had gathered around them and, to his surprise, they were there to see them off. Having grown up as a jinchuuriki, alone and hated, he hadn't expected so many people to see him off.

Much less yelling encouraging words.

"We'll miss you Lord Kazekage!"

"Be careful out there!"

"Good luck."

Were among the things they yelled. He felt a bit of happiness but still held his monotone expression, giving the crowd an awkward wave.

"You're ready to go Lord Kazekage," Baki, old sensei-turned-councilor, spoke to the Kazekage.

Gaara glanced at Baki before giving him a nod, "Very well."

The escorts formed around him, blocking him from all sides. He thought it was a bit much but didn't voice it. Being Kazekage meant having to put up with people worrying about him traveling and this had been the only time he had gotten away with not traveling on a kind of carriage the ninja would carry, quite pointless on his opinion. Being a Kage didn't mean that he couldn't walk.

"Let us go then," Gaara announced to the group of ninja.

They began to move out of the village while the crowd wished the Kazekage luck in the form of cheers.

* * *

><p>"Water Style: Water Dragon Jutsu!"<p>

Omoi's eyes widened in alarm as he skidded to a stop before jumping away from the area just as a dragon made of water shot past him. He landed on the ocean but froze when he saw the dragon changing direction and moving towards him once again.

'_What is this?' _He frowned inwardly before kicking off the water and moving up the air. Lightning danced around his blade as the water dragon followed after him.

He brought his blade down on the incoming attack. With his affinity being the stronger one, he dispersed the water dragon without much trouble. Once the dragon was one he stopped the flow of chakra going into his blade as he fell towards the water once more and landing safely.

Ino's eyes narrowed on the enemy once taking in the latest information. He was a lightning user which meant that his attacks would be useless unless he was airborne. It would actually be a big advantage but he had a teammate to think about which meant that he had to be careful with his jutsu.

If that was the case then all she needed to do was keep her distance so that his blade or taijutsu couldn't reach her.

She smirked, finding the task to be a lot easier than she once thought.

Running through hand signs once more, she watched as Omoi moved towards her. She unleashed a torrent of water on the incoming ninja but gasped when he cut through it easily, making her attack look like nothing.

Omoi closed in on Ino before swinging his blade just as Ino ducked under the deadly attack. The katana whizzed past her head as she took out a kunai to retaliate but was stopped by a hard kick to her left side.

With pain written all over her face, Ino bit her lower lip before stabbing at Omoi who easily maneuvered away from her. He stood there with the same calm look on his face, not even breathing hard. It looked like the fight wouldn't be as easy as she once thought.

"I got careless," Ino scolded herself as she placed her right hand on her left side, green chakra emitting from it and soothing the wound. Though not fully healing it, she would be able to get rid of the pain long enough to finish the fight.

Omoi watched in mild fascination as Ino worked on her wound. Her body was slightly hunched as she worked on it before she straightened up and stopped the flow of chakra, turning back to her with a look of anger.

He had never fought a medic before but knew that this one would pose a threat if he didn't finish her quickly enough. He cast a look at his teammate, wondering how she was faring against her opponent.

So far Karui had yet to cause any real damage on the Hyuuga. In fact, they hadn't really exchanged too many blows. The Leaf kunoichi was simply too defensive and it was close to impossible to get through her defenses.

The byakuugan was interesting. It was no wonder that her village had pursued it in the past.

"Don't get too full of yourself," Karui pointed her katana at Hinata with a deep frown on her face, "It's just because of that annoying bloodline that you're managing to live longer than you should."

Hinata said nothing, choosing to focus on the fight instead. It was usual for ninja to try and taunt the other into making a mistake but she knew better than to fall for it.

She suddenly let out a gasp, her byakuugan catching Choji being knocked aside by the beast's giant tail.

He sailed through the air before twisting his body and managing to land safely on the ocean. His breathing was heavy as he looked at the beast in front of him. It was way too difficult for him to fight it alone.

Not only did the beast have size but it was pretty agile as well. Be it slithering under his attacks or just diving into the ocean to avoid being hit, the beast was simply too difficult for him alone. But, glancing at his teammate, he knew that it would be impossible to ask for their help. They were having trouble themselves so he had to find a way to deal with the beast.

"What do I do?" Choji muttered to himself as the beast let out a roar before shooting at him. He gritted his teeth, standing his ground as his right first grew in size. The beast continued to get closer before he finally punched at it, "Take this!"

His fist met the beast head on, creating a small shockwave, as it let out a screech of pain but didn't let up. It continued to push against Choji's giant fist until it finally managed to push it back, much to the Akimichi's shock.

Choji grunted as he tried to push the beast away but to no avail. It continued to push his arm back before it got way too close for comfort. The beast let out a growl as it finally pushed his fist aside and left him completely helpless.

The world slowed down for Choji as the beast got closer and closer, showing its large teeth and getting ready to deal the fatal blow.

His eyes were wide in alarm before noticing someone suddenly intercepting the beast, delivering two open palm strikes and knocking if off course.

The beast disappeared into the water while Hinata landed in front of Choji with a bit of worry on her face, "Are you okay?"

Choji nodded before turning back to the beast, watching as it rose once again with its size towering above them.

"You're not escaping again Hyuuga."

The two Leaf ninja turned to see Karui charging at her. Choji's right arm grew in size and, before Karui could get too close to Hinata, he punched at the incoming ninja, making contact with her upper body before sending her flying through the air.

"Thanks," Hinata said in appreciation to Choji who nodded with a smile.

Karui feel into the ocean before using chakra to push herself out and managing a crouching stance. Her katana was gripped tightly on her right hand as she glared at the two ninja.

Choji and Hinata faced different directions, having to deal with very different enemies.

* * *

><p>Ino watched over her teammates with a worried frown on her face. They had gotten a little break but they wouldn't be able to catch them off guard again. She needed to get to them before it was too late.<p>

"Don't lose your focus," Omoi deadpanned as he swung his blade at Ino, who's eyes widened before ducking under the blow. He easily predicted this and kicked at her, making contact with her stomach before swinging his blade down on her once again.

The kunoichi dropped the chakra on her feet as a kunai fell down her right sleeve and she struck it upwards, making contact with the incoming blade before she went underwater from the impact.

Omoi kept a calm look on his face as he glanced around the water for any sign of the kunoichi. He had to admit that that last move had been good but he didn't have time to waste anymore. The Konoha ninja were probably looking for the beast as well which meant that they would either kill it or capture it.

He wasn't sure of what they would do which meant that he had to stop them before the situation escalated further. He couldn't risk the beast being killed.

"Don't lose your focus," Ino smirked once she resurfaced behind Omoi and slashed at him with her kunai.

The Cloud ninja frowned before leaning forward so that the sheath of his blade blocked the incoming slash. Ino's hand recoiled back once the kunai met the hard sheath and jumped away from the enemy when seeing the way his feet were positioned.

Like she had predicted, Omoi turned around while swinging at the air. "Not bad," he admitted as he held the katana to his side, "For someone with no weapon you're holding your own quite well."

Ino frowned as she slipped into her fighting stance once more, flicking her left wrist as another kunai dropped from her sleeve. "I don't need your praise," she glared as she flung both kunai with deadly accuracy.

Omoi easily knocked them aside with his katana before catching movement from the corner of his right eye. He almost froze when he saw a horde of kunai coming his way.

"What the hell?"

He jumped away from where he stood only to receive a powerful torrent of water to his chest, sending him flying through the air and towards an incoming dragon made of wind.

"Dammit," Omoi growled as he braced himself for the incoming attack, letting out a scream of pain as the dragon swallowed him whole.

The attack went on for a few moments before finally stopping to reveal Omoi with several cuts throughout his body. The Cloud ninja scowled as he turned to the newly arrived ninja responsible for the attack.

"Who are you?" He couldn't help but ask the smirking blond ninja that stood near the Konoha kunoichi.

Naruto's smirk only grew as he unsheathed his new katana, wind flowing through it and increasing its length and sharpness, "Does it really matter?"

Omoi narrowed his eyes on him before the blond ninja disappeared in a cloud of smoke, "What the-?"

Naruto appeared behind Omoi, quickly leaping at his exposed back with his blade on hand. He swung down on the Cloud ninja, aiming at his exposed neck before he turned on his heel with a blade of his own. The two blades met with a loud 'clang' as the two ninja stared each other down.

"Wrong one again," Naruto grinned as he disappeared in a cloud of smoke.

Omoi had no time to think as two hands gripped his heels before dragging him into the water. His eyes closed as he was dragged under water before they opened to see hundreds of clones waiting for him to there.

The clones smirked as they ran through hand signs.

_'Shit.'_

* * *

><p>"That was good Naruto," Ino smiled in relief, already feeling more at ease now that Naruto had arrived. He simply had that air around him, something that told her that everything would be okay and he wouldn't let anything hurt her.<p>

Naruto grinned at her before noticing the rest of his team still in the midst of battle, "That probably took care of him. Let's go help the others."

She nodded in agreement as the two began to move towards the rest of the team only to stop when the water behind them shot up. The two turned around to see Omoi standing before them looking a lot worse than before.

He was breathing heavily but still seemed to be able to keep going.

"You used a lightning jutsu to take them all out... not bad. But you still want to keep going don't you?" Naruto questioned with his eyes narrowed.

"Does it really matter?" Omoi repeated Naruto's earlier words with the same calm look on his face.

Naruto chuckled as he readjusted the grip on his katana. "Ino, go help Choji and Hinata. I'll take care of this guy," he muttered to her.

Ino's initial thought was to disagree but dismissed it. They had been able to hurt Omoi pretty badly and it didn't look like he could do much anymore. Sure it was a surprise attack but it didn't mean that Naruto couldn't hold his own against him. He had trained with a legendary ninja for three years after all.

"Alright, just be careful."

"Right," Naruto agreed as he watched her rushing towards their teammates. He turned back to Omoi as wind enhanced his blade once more, "Let's get this over with Cloud ninja."

Omoi frowned in response, eyes glaring into the blond, "Then let's."

**Ch.7 End**

**That's it for this one. The next chapter should come out as scheduled since I'm not **_**that **_**busy nowadays. **


	8. The Uzumaki Summon

**Sorry for taking a break out of nowhere but I felt like I needed to put away writing for a few days. ****I did try to improve my writing so please tell me what you think.**

**Anyway, I hope you enjoy this chapter. **

**Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto**

* * *

><p><strong>Naruto: Making of a Hokage<strong>

_**Whirlpool Arc**_

**Ch.8 The Uzumaki Summon**

Karui charged in at Hinata, her eyes focused on the Hyuuga's hands since they would give away what she would be doing, be it a defensive or offensive move. So, watching as both her arms moved back slightly she knew that it would be an offensive move. A smirk formed on her face as she kicked off the water and ran as fast as she could, dodging the expected attacks by ducking under the first fist and slapping the second away before she stabbed at Hinata with her blade.

Before the blade got close enough a torrent of water knocked it off her hand, she turned to her right as Ino closed in on her with a kunai in each hand before throwing them at her without losing speed. Karui quickly jumped away, taking note of the way the kunai passed right by the Hyuuga without so much as grazing her, which meant that the kunoichi's aim was close to perfect, something that would be annoying as the fight went on.

"Are you guys alright?" Ino approached Hinata while throwing Choji a glance, watching as he continued to the beast by using his enlarged limbs to push it away from them but not having much luck in lessening its tries. Ino turned back to the Hyuuga before giving her a firm nod, "I'll take care of her, go help Choji."

Hinata looked at Ino with a bit of worry, "What about the other ninja?"

"Naruto's here already. He's fighting him right now."

The two kunoichi stopped their conversation when Karui began to rush at them once more, holding her blade to the side while her eyes glared into them in apparent rage. Ino took a step forward, standing in front of Hinata as a way to tell her to go aid Choji and that she had things under control. Hinata gave Ino one last glance before leaving the area in order to help her other teammate.

Ino wasted no time and quickly kicked off the water, taking out a pair of kunai before meeting meeting Karui's blade with her own two weapons, both kunoichi pushing against each other as their eyes glared into each other's. She continued to apply pressure on Karui's blade before kicking both legs from under her, a look of shock showing on her face before twisting herself and managing to plant both hands on the water, using them to quickly push herself to a standing position and jumping away from the Konoha kunoichi.

As soon as her feet landed on the water she was met by the sight of two kunai coming her way but she easily knocked them away with a couple of slashes from her blade. She prepared to move once more but stopped when seeing that Ino was running through hand signs, her eyes narrowed on the ninja as she bent her knees in order to jump away if need be.

"Water Style: Water Dragon Jutsu!"

The large dragon made up of water formed in front of Ino before shooting straight at the Cloud ninja who easily dodged by sidestepping the attack, noticing that it was a bit smaller than the normal ones. Her eyes widened when noticing movement out of the corner of her eye, watching as the dragon turned its direction and moved towards her once again, this time moving a bit fast and losing a bit of size. Karui frowned as she added lightning to her blade and prepared herself to block the incoming attack that dispersed upon contact with her blade much to her shock. Her brows furrowed in a show of confusion, not understanding how a water dragon could be so small and agile.

Ino smirked from her spot on the water, her attack was a lot different than the others since she gave it a few kinks in order to raise its speed and be able to control it freely. It was an idea she got when trying to find a way to use less chakra when using it, it was simple really, all she did was lower the length and width of the dragon, everything else just followed after that. The jutsu did lose power and was easier to disperse but it was worth it and it wasn't like she couldn't use the normal jutsu anyway.

"Water Style…" Ino ran through hand signs as the water around Karui began to shake slightly, reminding her of what jutsu it was before she jumped away just as the water began to spin, "Water Fang Bullet!"

The spinning streams of water shot at Karui whose blade managed to block the attacks without much trouble before she caught sight of Ino rushing at her at a fast speed, her first instinct told her to move away but she chose to meet her halfway instead, raising her blade as she broke into a run. It wasn't long before the two made it to each other, Karui swinging at Ino only for her to dodge by ducking under the swipe and delivering a chakra-enhanced punch to the Cloud ninja's stomach.

Blood splattered out of Karui's mouth as Ino's fist dug into her stomach before launching her through the air, her eyes were wide as she coughed violently, seeing a bit of blood occasionally. She growled in pain as she twisted in the air, ignoring the pain shooting through her stomach as she did so before she finally flipped and managed to land in a crouching position, pressing a hand to her stomach in an obvious show of pain.

'_What the fuck was that?' _She screamed in her head. It didn't make any sense, the kunoichi didn't seem to be that strong physically, hell, she hadn't even been able to push against her blade earlier. Reason told her that the Konoha ninja was not physically strong but then why did she punch like that? The freaking punch had left her a gasping mess after making contact, once.

Ino smiled inwardly, everything was going well. Deception was the tool she used best, leading enemies into a false sense of security before showing her true colors. Her unusual attack patterns made it easy for her since she could go from a heavy attacker to a quick and swift one in a matter of seconds. The training she received from Tsunade and Anko had increased her taijutsu exponentially, not to mention that her Dragon Water Jutsu always threw people off.

Speaking of which, she quickly ran through hand signs slow enough to give Karui a chance to see but fast enough as to not arise suspicion. Another smirk etched on her face when seeing her enemy push lightning through her blade which meant that she had fallen for it.

"Water Style: Water Dragon Jutsu!" The dragon formed in front of Ino, growing in size until finally shooting at Karui, slower than before but gaining size as it moved much to the misfortune of the Cloud ninja.

Karui gritted her teeth as the attack grew closer until finally meeting her blade and instantly pushing her back several feet, a gasp escaped her mouth as the attack continued to push her away, pressure on her blade increasing with each passing second until she couldn't take anymore, her blade being knocked out of her hand and leaving her to take the attack without any means of defense.

"That took care of her..."

Water splashed around the area as Ino broke her gaze away from where her enemy had been, instead switching her gaze to Choji and Hinata fighting the beast and having a bit of trouble. She took out a couple of kunai before walking towards her teammates, knowing that the next fight wouldn't be any easier.

* * *

><p>Naruto steadied the katana in his hands before rushing at Omoi, the water beneath his feet splashing about as he neared the enemy before drawing his blade back, ready to swing at the unmoving target. He swung at Omoi, who quickly parried the attack with his own blade before throwing a punch with his free hand but Naruto saw through this and ducked under the blow before raising his body upwards along with his left arm, delivering an uppercut to Omoi's chin and snapping his head back. Not done, he followed with a hard punch to the ninja's stomach, earning a grunt of pain before he readied his blade for the final slash.<p>

Not one to be defeated so easily, Omoi regained himself before raising his blade once more and blocking the incoming swing as lightning began to dance around his blade, coursing through Naruto's before moving into his body. Naruto gritted his teeth as he focused wind into his blade, intercepting the weaker element and preventing any more electricity from entering his body. Their blades pushed against the other, wind vs. lightning, sparks emitting from both blades due to the opposing elements and the grinding of two metals.

With neither of them having the advantage, the two jumped away from each other in order to put a bit of distance between them, knowing that they had locked themselves in with no chance of breaking through.

"I didn't think you'd be a wind user," Omoi commented as he went over the possible outcomes of this development. He was a thoughtful person which would lead to him being prepared for most kinds of situations given enough time, though it really didn't take him to long.

Naruto only frowned, reading his blade once more and putting it in front of him while gripping it with both hands. "Let's end this quickly," his blade grew in length due to the effects of the wind sharpening it. "I still have to take care of that thing."

"It's no good to be so overconfident," Omoi pointed out as lightning filled his blade, cackling loudly as it emitted blue sparks before he broke into a run.

Naruto held his ground as the ninja grew closer, eyes focused on his movements before finally swinging his blade with a large wave of wind shooting out of it and heading straight for Omoi who quickly jumped over it without much trouble. He flipped in the air before landing on the water with his knees bent and using the gained momentum to kick off of the water and leap at Naruto in a fast speed. Said ninja saw this and raised his blade to meet the blow, creating a shockwave due to the opposing forces pushing against the other.

Both Naruto and Omoi knew that the prior would end up the victor of their deadlock due to his element having the edge over lightning, it would only be a matter of time before he could break through his defense. Naruto's eyes narrowed on Omoi as he focused more chakra into his blade, wind coursing through it as the blade increased in length even more and beginning to push away the lightning-filled blade slowly but surely. It was at this time that Omoi raised his free hand in order to point his index and middle finger at Naruto's chest as lightning gathered at the tip of both fingers and, while Naruto took note of this, he was too late as Omoi uttered his attack.

"Lightning Style: Paralyzing Shot!"

Lightning shot out of Omoi's fingers, hitting Naruto on the chest before his body began to shake violently, teeth gritted in obvious pain. He let out grunt of pain while noticing the Cloud ninja raising his blade at him before swinging down, without thinking about the consequences Naruto quickly dropped the flow of chakra going through his feet, instantly dropping into the water just in time to avoid Omi's lethal swing.

'_Dammit! I didn't think this through!' _Naruto thought in alarm as he sank down the ocean, the equipment he carried making him sink like a rock. His mouth shut firmly, not wanting to waste even the smallest bit of air as he thought of what to do.

The jutsu Omoi had used had made it impossible for him to move and he was running out of time. Fast. His chest began to ache terribly as his lungs demanded oxygen, he grunted as he fought to move but could only muster the smallest of movements.

'_Why the fuck does this always happen to me?' _

Finally under too much strain, his mouth opened involuntarily to look for oxygen, taking in the salty water of the ocean in a big gulp. Naruto began to panic, only thinking of getting out of the ocean as he tried to move but couldn't.

_'Fuck it!' _he screamed in his head as he began to concentrate his chakra before noticing something moving towards him, _'Huh?'_

* * *

><p>The beast roared as it launched at the three Konoha shinobi, pushing through a couple of kunai moving its away but not being able to stop a large fist from making contact with its head, making it recoil back before receiving a horde of punches just under its head. It quickly composed itself before nodding its head down and swatting the Hyuuga down though she managed to flip in the air and land safely before leaping away from him and landing next to her teammates.<p>

"What do we do now?" Choji asked as sweat trailed down his face, he was spent, having to stall the creature for so long had its toll on him, not to mention that his chakra was almost gone. Beside him Ino shook her head with a grim look on her face.

"I don't know what to do. Most of my chakra was used when fighting that Cloud ninja and I don't have anything that could take out something so big." Ino pointed at the giant beast for emphasis, her eyes half-lidded in a show of exhaustion.

Hinata sighed before moving a few bangs away from her face, "I don't know any jutsu that can take it out either. My other attacks won't be of much help since the beast is too large for me to attack its chakra points."

Once more the beast prepared to attack before a ray of light shone against its right eye, it growled before turning to the source before recognition flashed through its eyes before diving into the ocean and leaving three confused ninja behind.

* * *

><p>Omoi sheathed his blade when noticing that Naruto had yet to come out. He let out a sigh of relief, a bit glad that his fight was over but knowing that he now had to handle three more ninja and the rampaging beast.<p>

Turning to where the other fight should be, he immediately rose a brow, finally noticing that the fight was over and there was no sign of either Karui or the beast. "What the hell happened?" He almost groaned before taking a step forward just as the water behind him shot up, soaking his whole body as he turned on his heel to see the beast emerge from the ocean with the outline of a person on its head.

He narrowed his eyes on the figure atop the beast's head, finding the spiky bangs a bit familiar, "How is that guy still alive?"

Atop the beast's head was Naruto on all fours coughing up water harshly, his blade was still held on his right hand as he continued his coughing fit. He mustered a look of confusion as he realized where he was and wondered why the beast had saved him.

Not more than an hour ago it had been attacking them so why the change? Why had it saved him from drowning when they were its enemies? It just didn't make sense to him.

"**You're an Uzumaki," **the beast spoke in a deep voice, surprising the ninja atop its head. **"I can see it from the blade you carry."**

"S-so what?" Naruto managed as his coughing died down, now panting and holding his chest in pain, "What are you anyway? And why have you been attacking people?"

"**I am the proud leader of the sea-serpents, a summon reserved only to the Uzumaki," **it's voice held a bit of pride as it spoke, **"My last instructions were to take care of what remains of Whirlpool and I have done just that, waiting to meet an Uzumaki once again."**

_'So that's how it was...' _Naruto thought over all that happened, the beast destroying boats and appearing to be in a rampage when it was simply trying to divert attention away from Whirlpool. He fought the urge to roll his eyes, it was a simple misunderstanding in which people let their fears control them.

"You didn't have to destroy boats though," Naruto spoke up, "That just made people think you were insane. Couldn't you have done something else?"

"**I lost a lot of power after so many years away from home. The only way to continue protecting Whirlpool was to attack the ships head on."**

The tiredness on its voice could be heard, as if it hadn't rested in ages. "Why didn't you just go home?" He pulled himself into a standing position as the summon beneath him shoot its head, making him stumble forward before using chakra to keep himself from falling off.

"**We sea-serpents are different. We do not go away without the consent of our masters, that is what makes us different."**

"Then I'll get you home," he assured in confidence before setting his sight on the Cloud ninja that still stood before them, "I'm not feeling too well so please help me take care of this fight."

"**It is no problem master…"**

"Naruto," he introduced himself as he prepared himself for round two.

The sea-serpent boss let out a low growl as it prepared to attack, forming whirlpools around it, **"Understood, Master Naruto."**

"Alright then!" He pointed his blade at Omoi as the Uzumaki summon beneath him let out a roar with the whirlpools spinning faster than before, "Let's take him down!"

Omoi held a look of worry as the beast snarled at him, baring its large teeth before shooting at him almost instantly but the Cloud ninja reacted quickly and dodged by jumping to the side, only to receive a cut to his right arm that cut part of his sleeve. Blood seeped out of the wound as he glanced over his shoulder to see Naruto land on the water behind him before stabbing at him, Omoi quickly spun in place before raising his blade to parry the blow and leaving Naruto vulnerable. He prepared to attack him but caught movement out of the corner of his eye and quickly back flipped as the beast sunk its head into the water he had stood on not long ago, obviously trying to swallow him up.

"Damn…" he muttered to himself as the beast lowered its head to allow Naruto to climb on it. "This just got a lot more difficult."

He twirled the katana on his right hand, preparing to attack before noticing a body floating among the waves around him. His eyes widened before he ran at the body, finding it to be Karui. He quickly checked her vitlas and found her to be alive, much to her relief, though it was short-lived since he was still in the middle of a battle.

'_I have to get out of here,' _he knew for a fact that fighting while making sure Karui was safe would be next to impossible. Quickly scanning the area he found a boat floating not too far away from the area, he could use it to make a run for it since they're mission was pretty much over now.

Nodding to himself, he picked up Karui and steadied her on his shoulder before running through hand signs and pointing both palms at Naruto once done, lightning coursed through them as he unleashed his jutsu, "Lightning Style: Blinding Flash!"

Naruto gritted his teeth as dozens of lightning bolts shot at them, he prepared to counter with a wind jutsu but couldn't finish as the bolts nearing them suddenly exploded in blinding bursts of light, making him shield his eyes with a hiss of pain. The summon beneath him began to move its head from side to side, making him come to the conclusion that it had fallen for the jutsu as well.

"They're gone," he growled.

Having kept clones keeping the boat he came in safe, gave him an insight of what happened, in this case Omoi appearing out of nowhere and taking them out with a swipe of his blade. He frowned, his clones hadn't been on the alert, playing a some kind of game instead.

_'Freaking idiots...' _he cursed the clones.

A few moments passed before Naruto could finally open his eyes without the danger of being blinded. He winced at the stinging sensation on his eyes, finding the sun's rays too bright, he blinked away the remaining stinging before looking around the ocean and finding the boat to be too far away too pursue. They had gotten away.

"Naruto!"

His brows furrowed as he turned to the holder of the voice, finding his team standing on the water with apprehensive looks, all in their taijutsu stances and ready to attack the beast.

"It's okay," he put up both hands to keep them from attacking before jumping off the summon and landing in front of them with a small grin, "He's alright, don't worry." The team continued to look at the beast warily but didn't voice their concerns. Naruto turned back to the summon with a grin, "Can you go back home now?"

The summon shook its head as it lowered its head to see Naruto more properly, **"You need to sign our contract. I can't leave until you do."**

Naruto nodded at the beast, who focused its eyes in him before summoning a large scroll on his hands. "Alright then," he opened the scroll, finding many names already there, before biting his thumb until drawing blood and writing his name down. "There, all done."

"**I thank you Master Naruto," **the gratitude in its voice was evident as it nodded at him, **"If you ever need to travel the seas, call one of us. We'll take you wherever you wish."**

The Uzumaki summon left in a giant cloud of smoke after that, engulfing the area as Naruto turned back to see his shocked team, smiling amusingly before speaking, "What's up?"

* * *

><p>Eight shadowed holograms circled around two Akatsuki members, their hats off but the darkness of the cave masking their faces.<p>

"We heard from a spy," said one of the holograms. "Apparently the Kazekage is on his way to the Waterfall Village."

The hologram in the center of the gathered members turned to the two Akatsuki that were currently in the cave. "You two are to get ready for his arrival. Do not make any mistakes."

One of the Akatsuki members let out a chuckle, "Who do you think we are? It's not like we're some walking sushi, yeah?"

"Why don't you come meet me and the sharpest end of Samehada?" Another member threatened with a snarl.

"Enough," loomed the voice of their leader before he turned to the two members assigned with the capture of the one-tail beast, "This meeting is over. Do not fail."

With that the holograms disappeared, leaving only two Akatsuki members in the cave, one of them clicking his tongue and picking up his hat. He quickly put it on, letting the tassels cover his face and blond hair kept in a high ponytail.

"Let's get this over with," he sighed, "We don't want to make 'leader' angry, yeah?"

The other member said nothing, instead walking out of the cave without so much as a word, making the other member click his tongue before following.

The hunt for the Ichibi had begun.

**Ch.8 End**

**That's it for this one. Also, before you guys ask, Naruto _could _have gotten out of the water himself but stopped when seeing the summon right in front of him. **

**So, just to summarize, he could have gotten out of that bind but didn't get enough time to react since he was startled by the beast and lost concentration. Other things will be explained in the following chapter, which I plan on getting out by the usual schedule. **


	9. The Kazekage's Downfall

**Here's the next update. Sorry to have taken longer than usual but the site wouldn't let me sign in. And, after allowing me to, none of my documents would open and I was forced to mess with my laptop until if finally worked again. **

**Anyway, many thanks to those of you that took the time to review, add the story to favorites, etc. It really means a lot. **

**But enough about that, here's the chapter. **

* * *

><p><strong>Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto <strong>

* * *

><p><strong>Naruto: Making of a Hokage<strong>

_**Kazekage Arc**_

**Ch.9 The Kazekage's Downfall**

"Anything?"

"They got nothing." Naruto answered Ino bluntly after regaining the memories of the clones he had sent looking for another boat.

It had been a few hours since their fight with the Cloud ninja and the first thing he had done after getting back to Whirlpool was send clones to the building in which he had found the boat earlier. The clones had found nothing interesting and dispelled after thoroughly checking the place.

"Man… I'm already tired of seeing the sea all the time," he complained as he glanced at his team. Ino was next to him, appearing to agree with his earlier comment by getting a longing look on her face. Choji sat against a tree, still regaining strength after his physically taxing battle with the Uzumaki summon. Lastly, Hinata stood opposite of Ino with her gaze on the sea, appearing to be deep in thought.

"Is there really no way to get out of here?" Ino asked with a bit of desperation.

Naruto ran a hand through his hair, frowning as he thought over what to do. "I could just summon a sea-serpent to take us to Wave but…"

"But what?" she responded with a raised brow. If the summon could take them across the sea so easily then why not, she would have volunteered to summon an eagle to take them home but she was currently too low on chakra to summon one large enough or the right amount of smaller eagles to take them across the sea.

"But the toads are going to get mad," Naruto laughed nervously while scratching the back of his head sheepishly. Sensing the confusion of his teammates, currently looking at him incredulously, he continued, "Well, they told me that if I ever decided to get a second summon then I should tell them first and I… well didn't. Knowing Gamabunta, he's just waiting to kick my ass for doing this."

Ino sighed, "Well then can't you-" She was cut off as Naruto suddenly disappeared in a Cloud of smoke, taking them all by surprise. "Naruto!"

"What just happened?" Choji asked in utter shock, not having seen something like that before.

* * *

><p>"But whatever, it's not like Gamabunta can lay a hand on me!"<p>

"**What was that?"**

Naruto froze, noticing the change in atmosphere and looking around the heavily vegetated Mount Myoboku. He glanced over his shoulder, seeing the towering figure of Gamabunta glaring at him disapprovingly.

"Heh, I take it you found out about the sea-serpents?"

"**Yup."**

* * *

><p>Gaara and his entourage continued to travel along a rocky path with many cliffs along the way. Throughout their trip Gaara grew more and more agitated for some reason, something inside of him telling him to be more careful. He initially dismissed the feeling but, after finding what appeared to be tracks not too far away from where they walked, he knew there was something wrong. He was sure to tell the ninja surrounding him to be more alert and that there was something off about the place.<p>

The group continued along the path highly alert, entering an area between two high cliffs on their way. Some ninja relaxed after entering the covered path, finding it a bit easier to block attacks if they came from a straight line.

_**BOOM!**_

The entrance of the cliff suddenly blew up, making the group turn around in shock before another explosion went off in front of them. Gaara was the first to react and quickly used a cloud of sand above them just as another explosion went off above, causing large boulders to shoot towards them but being blocked by the large cloud of sand.

"Lord Kazekage are you alright?" One of the ninja yelled as he moved to circle protectively around Gaara as did the rest of the ninja.

"I'm oka-"

_**BOOM!**_

The ground beneath the group went off in a powerful explosion that sent sand and debris aside as if nothing and creating a large cloud of dust. Gaara jumped out of the cloud with his clothes heavily burned and sporting many scratches around his body. He landed on top of the cliff and instantly scanned the area for survivors but found nothing but debris and smoke.

He growled in anger, feeling completely useless for allowing his men to die just like that, without even putting up a fight. He had known they were in danger and entered a dangerous area without thinking much about it since even exploding tags couldn't cause so much damage so quickly. There was something different about those explosions.

"Ha, I knew a jinchuuriki, much less a Kage, wouldn't die in there. Kinda glad you didn't since 'leader' would have been mad, yeah?"

Gaara turned around to meet eyes with a blond-haired ninja having his hair in a ponytail and wearing a black cloak with red clouds. At the last observation his fists tightened, remembering a conversation he had had with Naruto not more than two years ago.

_-Flashback-_

"_So you and the sage, Jiraiya, are staying here for a couple of days?" Gaara asked the blond walking next to him. _

"_Yeah," Naruto nodded with a smile, resting both hands behind his head and looking around the place in deep thought, "But we only came for one reason."_

_Gaara cast a look at Naruto, "Which is…"_

"_There's a group of people after people like us, jinchuuriki," he answered as his expression grew serious, almost appearing to hold anger, making Gaara wonder why it was getting him so worked up. "They are made up of really strong ninja. From what Jiraiya-sensei told me, their leader could even be stronger than any Kage."_

"_What is this group called?"_

_Naruto looked at Gaara with a look of pure seriousness, "They're called…"_

_-End Flashback-_

"The Akatsuki," Gaara muttered as he glanced at the single member standing before him, having a smirk on his face and appearing amused to have Gaara know him.

"You guys are well-informed but still so unprepared," the member chuckled as he pointed behind Gaara.

Said ninja turned on his heel only to receive several strikes to his upper body before falling limply on the ground with his eyes wide in disbelief.

"Why did you use your damned seals again? I was going to try my new art on him," the member with blond hair scoffed before turning to walk away, "Next time don't interfere, yeah?"

The other member said nothing, instead slinging Gaara over the right shoulder and beginning to walk away, leaving the heavily destroyed area behind.

* * *

><p>"Nice to see ya again, Naruto-boy," a smaller toad approached the two, its thick white eyebrows raising at the scene before him. The toad wore a black cape over its green body, while keeping his white hair styled in somewhat of a mohawk.<p>

Naruto smiled in relief, eyeing Gamabunta as he turned to the toad, "H-Hey, nice to you too, Fukasaku-sensei."

Fukasaku nodded to him before turning to Gamabunta and frowning, "I said I would talk to him, stop scaring him already."

Gamabunta muttered something under his breath before leaving, much to Naruto's relief and well-being. He turned to the remaining toad, still feeling a bit bad about just signing the other summoning contract without telling them like he had promised.

"You already know why you're here," Fukasaku stated, receiving a nod from Naruto, before continuing, "Well then, see ya later."

Naruto facefaulted, looking at the toad in confusion, "That was it? I thought you would scold me for sure. Besides, what was the point of bringing me here so suddenly Fukasaku-sensei?"

"Ah, thanks for reminding me. Shima wanted to see you again, she even prepared food for us."

Naruto shuddered, remembering just what Shima, Fukasaku's wife, considered food. Things like worms and other kinds of bugs were among her favorite things to make and he had actually tasted her cooking before, being fooled by Jiraiya who slipped the food into one of his ramen cups and saying that if he had eaten it then he had to as well.

"N-No, I'm a bit busy," he chuckled nervously, using his years of experience to think of a way to change the conversation, "Oh, that's right. Has Jiraiya-sensei come here in the last few days?"

"He hasn't. Where you looking for Jiraiya-boy?" Fukasaku asked.

"No, in fact this will work out better," Naruto told himself. His teacher took occasional visits to Mount Myoboku, which would come at about one month intervals. Counting the last few days of their travels and the time of his newest mission, the sage would surely end up showing up in the next few days.

"Then, could you tell him not to leave Konoha until I come back? I have to talk to him about something important."

"Sure, it's no problem," Fukasaku agreed with a smile.

Naruto nodded at the elder toad before forming a hand sign, "Alright then, I'll come back to visit soon. Sorry I couldn't stay longer."

The toad waved him off with a chuckle, "I know how busy you and Jiraiya-boy are, don't worry."

The blond nodded once more before disappearing in a cloud of smoke.

* * *

><p>Naruto reappeared before Ino, Choji and Hinata, grinning at them sheepishly, "Hey guys, sorry about that."<p>

"Where did you go?" Ino immediately asked with a bit of worry left on her face.

"The toads took me to their home since they found out about me signing a new summoning contract," he explained before approaching the shore, smiling slightly at the feeling of the wind hitting his skin. "Just give me a few minutes alone and then we'll get moving."

Ino looked at him oddly, "What are you going to do?"

Naruto looked down, his expression changing into one of seriousness. "I have to find out about my past," he answered, "To do this I'll need some time alone."

"Okay," Ino answered a bit bitterly, finding Naruto to be hiding a lot of things from her lately. She, followed by a confused Choji and nervous Hinata, left the area by going deeper into the wooded area of Whirlpool to find a place to rest while Naruto took care of whatever he needed to do.

After finding himself alone, Naruto walked to the sea just enough to make sure that whatever he summoned could swim properly. Once finding a proper place he ran through the proper hand signs before slamming both hands on the ground, "Summoning Jutsu!"

Smoke filled the area in front of Naruto, the outline of a large sea-serpent visible through the smoke. He squinted his eyes at the figure before the smoke began to clear to reveal the blue scale covered body of a sea serpent, much smaller than the first he had seen though it towered over Naruto.

The summon studied Naruto with its piercing red eyes before nodding at him and moving a bit closer, "I see that you are our new summoner though I have to admit that I did not believe another of your kind would appear."

Naruto nodded with his mouth formed in a thin line, "I just wanted to know if you could tell me anything about the last people to summon you. Maybe tell me how they fought or about the last time you were summoned?"

The summon seemed to think for a moment before nodding in agreement, "But first I'd like to ask for the name of our new master."

"It's Naruto," he replied calmly, "Uzumaki, Naruto."

* * *

><p>The two Akatsuki members continued to move, now having made it to a more wooded area with a few cliffs in the area. The member carrying Gaara did so several feet behind the other member.<p>

Both of them kept quiet as they continued to walk before 'Gaara' suddenly turned into a pile of sand, much to the shock of the member carrying him. The Akatsuki member looked around before spotting a stream of sand moving towards the other member.

"Deidara, behind you," the member called out, as the other, known as Deidara, turned on his heel to see the incoming stream of sand.

Deidara smirked as he jumped high in the sky before making a large bird made of white clay that quickly flew up the sky to avoid the stream of sand. He cast a look down as he flew up the sky, watching the stream of sand following after him and increasing in size. Reaching for the two pouches around his waist, Deidara's hands swallowed a good amount of clay before he began to mend it.

He kept an eye on the incoming stream of sand, focusing solely on it before quickly jumping off his bird just as the sand swallowed it whole. The Akatsuki member smirked as he flipped in the air to face the sand before using a hand seal to detonate the bird he had just been on.

Sand shot on all sides as the explosion roared in the sky, Deidara appreciated the explosion with a smirk before flipping in the air once more, this time to lower both his hands and make another bird, larger this time. He had it take him higher in the air in order to see where the jinchuuriki was, he had to be close since those attacks looked like they needed proper control.

* * *

><p>Gaara frowned as he stood against a tree in the vicinity.<p>

He had managed to get away from the area in which the Akatsuki initiated their attack. He had deemed it necessary since he didn't know if they had more traps around the place, not to mention that they probably knew the terrain better than he did. But here, with many places to hide in, he stood a better chance than in the open space.

Luck had been on his side since the two members didn't realize that they were walking away with a clone. He had thought of escaping while they took the clone but he knew that it would be futile since they would have probably figured out that it was a fake before he could get far enough.

The sand jinchuuriki looked at the sky to see the earlier Akatsuki member flying with the aid of a large bird made of clay. It looked like trying to mount another surprise attack would be a lot more difficult since that guy would see anything coming. His eyes narrowed in thought before they widened in realization.

'_Where did the other one go?'_

The Kazekage snapped his head to the side, having heard rustling leaves, and saw a large torrent of water shooting at him. Quickly kicking off the ground, Gaara took air to see the other Akatsuki member among the trees. He wasted no time and shot a large stream of sand at the member but it was countered by another shot of water, making him frown.

Landing on a tall tree, Gaara was met by small birds made of clay flying towards him. Sand shot at the birds before another stream of sand gathered on his feet and pushed him high in the air, avoiding the incoming explosions from the birds.

His eyes fell on the Akatsuki member on top of the bird, watching as he smirked before waving his arm at him, making three small clay birds appear before they flew straight at Gaara.

The Kazekage prepared to attack before the sand beneath his feet was struck by another torrent of water, making it turn to mud and give out underneath his feet. Eyes focusing, Gaara made out the other Akatsuki member among the trees before using more of his sand to push himself into the air once more while using some of it to shoot at the incoming birds, taking one down in an explosion but not stopping the others.

With no other choice, Gaara focused on his sand before shooting another stream of sand at the incoming birds, this one taking the shape of a giant arm and easily withstanding the explosions that came from destroying the birds and moving towards the Akatsuki member perched on top of the bird. Not done, Gaara turned his attention to the ground below and shot another arm of sand at the member hiding among the trees.

Deidara cursed before jumping off his bird, his cloak fluttering with the air as the bird was struck by the giant arm in a powerful explosion but, to his surprise, the arm didn't go down though it did lose some size. Reaching for his twin pouches, Deidara put both hands under him before making another bird to fly on just as the arm of sand approached them. He prepared to attack before watching as a lightning bolt struck the arm made of sand, breaking it in half and turning it into a pile of harmless sand.

"I told you not to interfere, yeah?" Deidara glared at the other member, currently standing on top of a tree. He scoffed as he watched the other giant arm made of sand moving towards them.

Smirking, Deidara piloted his bird towards the incoming sand, jumping off of it once it got close enough and beginning to run up the length of the arm just as his bird exploded against the giant arm. Not paying mind to the explosion, he continued his run while swinging his right arm and making three clay birds that shot at Gaara just as the sand beneath his feet began to move. Eyes narrowing, Deidara jumped off the arm just as spikes struck out of it. He flipped in the air, making another large bird to carry him, and watched as the smaller birds he had shot at the jinchuuriki were destroyed by more streams of sand.

Gaara retracted the giant arm, watching as the Akatsuki member flew away. It would be pointless to continue using such a level of sand at chakra when he was running scarce of both since much of his sand had been turned into mud by the many shots of water, courtesy of the other Akatsuki member.

Things looked bad. He couldn't fight properly since both air and earth were covered by the Akatsuki members. Even hiding would be next to impossible with two ninja like them on the alert.

'_I've no choice,' _Gaara's frown deepened as he gathered his remaining sand around himself, covering himself with it and gaining size.

* * *

><p>The wind ruffled Naruto's hair as he and the others stood on top of a large sea-serpent's head, moving through the sea at a faster pace than their old boat had.<p>

His eyes were glazed in thought, looking into the distance though his mind was clearly elsewhere, going through what the summon had told him about the Uzumaki.

They were master seal users, finding ways to fight by using seals and finishing fights in matters of minutes thanks to their advanced seals. This, along with the ability to produce chains made out of chakra, though only a few could do this, made them quite feared though they were mostly peaceful. The summon also told him that the last time it had been summoned was in the middle of a war, having to fight several fleets of boats on the ocean surrounding the place.

From what he remembered back on his mission to Sand when he was younger, Whirlpool had been destroyed during the Third World Shinobi War, which meant that the battle the summon had experienced had happened on the last days of Whirlpool.

The summon went on to tell him that only a few other summons had been used ever since that war. This made it clear that there were more survivors out there though few. If he wanted, Naruto could seek them out via the help of the sea-serpents but, for now, he would just focus on his work and wait until he could take a long break in order to look for them.

"What's the matter Naruto?"

He was broken out of his thoughts by the voice of Ino who, by glancing over his shoulder, seemed a bit worried, obviously trying to be of help in case something was troubling him. Part of him wanted to tell her but it really wasn't the time nor place to tell her such a thing.

"I'll tell you later," he grinned at her while taking her hand on his and inching closer to her in order to whisper the last part, "I can't really tell you here."

Ino nodded with a small smile, glad to know that Naruto would trust in her. She knew that since he came back the two of them hadn't been where they used to when it came to their relationship but they were getting there again. Trusting her enough to tell her what was worrying him. It wasn't like she wanted to know every single thing that happened to Naruto, no, that would only destroy their relationship.

She just wanted to know when something was troubling him. Problems were easily fixed by more than one person and she didn't mind having to help him. They were a couple after all, a team that would hopefully last a lifetime.

So, as the sea-serpent took them across the sea, Ino inched closer to Naruto until she could rest her head on his shoulder and admire the view. She smiled when feeling Naruto wrap a hand around her shoulders and pulling her a bit closer.

She had really missed this.

Behind them, Hinata adverted her gaze from the couple, not being able to take the scene anymore. She couldn't take it anymore. Naruto and Ino together had seemed impossible when she first heard it and as time passed by she thought that maybe the two would separate but, obviously, they didn't. This fact hurt her. She had been the one to like Naruto fist so why didn't he even glance at her?

Even before he had been with Ino, Naruto had never paid her any attention. She had hoped to gain the necessary confidence to talk to him one day but she never thought that he would get a girlfriend while she tried to gather her courage.

Her fists clenched. No, she couldn't give up now. She wouldn't live with regret so she would do it.

In order to have closure and finally calm her doubts, she would need to do it. Naruto had taught her to never give up and to be confident which is exactly what she was going to do even if the end result was a broken heart.

Yes.

She would confess to Naruto.

* * *

><p>Deidara smirked as Gaara's sand-covered body grew in size and took the shape of the demon he inhabited.<p>

He would get the chance to use his new art after all, it was perfect since he needed to test it. A smirk formed on his face before he caught sight of something through the corner of his right eye, turning to see the other Akatsuki member still standing on top of a tree.

"I'm gonna take him down. Don't you dare interrupt, yeah?"

The other member looked at him for a few moments before speaking, "Leader wants us to capture him. You're just going to end up killing it."

"I really hate all of you, you know?" Deidara gritted his teeth and pointed at the growing Gaara, "Then take care of the fucking thing, yeah? But remember... Don't ever get between me and my art again, got it?"

Ignoring Deidara's threat, the other member pulled out a scroll before jumping high in the air and nearing the growing jinchuuriki. Using a single hand sign, the member made a single clone and had it take out another scroll before moving to one side of the one-tailed demon.

Gaara opened his eyes, finished with his transformation. A replica of the Ichibi stood before the two Akatsuki members. It was one of his strongest abilities though he never got to test it properly since it was more of a last resort.

He prepared to attack before four large birds made of clay impacted against his sand, breaking off part of it but not taking it down. He pointed an arm at the flying Akatsuki member, taking aim before his whole body simply stopped moving.

"W-What is this?" he muttered in shock as he tried to struggle against the hold, finding that he couldn't.

Deidara rolled his eyes, "You gave my partner too much time."

Gaara managed to a look to his side to see many blue chains wrapped around his body and extending to a large pillar made of blue chakra, and he was sure that there was another one of those pillars on his other side. He struggled against the hold but couldn't break free, not even his sand was responding.

"The chains, along with the pillars, take your chakra away," the Akatsuki member spoke in front of Gaara, having many chains sticking out of its upper body and forming a king of triangle with the other two pillars. "Then again, you probably remember my work when it comes to stealing chakra and reusing it."

"Y-You're…" Gaara began but let out a gasp of pain as the chains grew tighter, his sand beginning to break off until only his body was wrapped in those chains, "D-Dammit."

The Akatsuki member watched as Gaara fell unconscious, now deprived of any chakra and immobilized. Dropping the jutsu, the two pillars exploded from the gathered chakra while Deidara made a bird made of clay take Gaara away with its talons before moving towards the member still standing on the ground.

"Let's go," Deidara order as the other Akatsuki member jumped on the bird holding Gaara.

The two birds made of clay proceeded to fly away from the area with an unconscious Gaara.

The Ichibi had been captured.

* * *

><p>The sun was going down as Naruto's group walked the streets of Wave. The group gained odd looks, most of them directed at Naruto which were usually followed by a pointing finger and many whispers. At first they had been thrown off by this but it wasn't until someone called him 'Wave's Hero' that Naruto finally figured out why they were getting the attention of the villagers. Apparently, he and the rest of Team 7 had gotten the credit of saving Wave when, in his opinion, they hadn't really done much.<p>

Most of the work went to Kakashi and, ultimately, Zabuza who ended up killing Gato, the man responsible for how bad things had been in Wave. He, Sasuke and Sakura had only done small things that paled in comparison to what the others had done.

Naruto shrugged, guessing that it wasn't really troubling, albeit a bit distracting. He had other things to worry about, such as what would happen with Cloud. They were viewed as a hostile village, starting conflict due to the smallest occurrences. Of course, it was completely crazy to think that they would start a war for what happened but he was sure that there would be some hostility.

He let out a sigh, finding the whole thing to be, as Shikamaru would say, troublesome, _'Oh well, we'll just have to wait and see.' _

"So… where are we going?" Ino asked, tired of walking aimlessly through town.

"We're going to visit Tazuna," he informed, earning odd looks from his teammates, "I know we should get going to Konoha but we might as well rest. It's almost dark. Besides, we still have to make up for just taking that one man's boat and Tazuna's a friend of the guy so he could help."

Choji smiled as he walked faster in order to catch up to their squad leader, "That's great. I was getting hungry and most of my food was on the boat the beast destroyed."

"That's right…" Naruto trailed off with a look of defeat. They had left all of their non-ninja luggage in the boat which had been destroyed by his newest summon. That boat had carried the food he had packed along with his sealing materials, meaning that he would need to buy some when getting back to Konoha. It looked like the mission had been more trouble than it was worth.

The team of ninja looked down in defeat. They were hungry, dirty and, possibly, in trouble for getting in a fight with another village. Yup, things looked pretty bad for them.

But at least their mission was a success.

Who knows what Tsunade would have done to them if they had failed.

**Ch.9 End**

**Well, this seemed like a good place to end the chapter so I will. I'm not sure of when the next chapter will be out but I will try to get it out as soon as I can. Anyway, I hope you liked the chapter. **


	10. Destination, Tanzaku Quarters!

**Sorry for taking so long but I've been a bit busy. Thanks to those of you that reviewed and/or added this story to their favorites, it means a lot.**

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><p><strong>Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto<strong>

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><p><strong>Naruto: Making of a Hokage<strong>

_**Kazekage Arc**_

**Ch.10 Destination, Tanzaku Quarters!**

The group of ninja, currently having finished their mission in Wave, were currently approaching a home, it's brown colored walls appearing to be completely dark due to the sky losing its color blue in favor of a dark orange.

Naruto smiled, finding the home to be a lot smaller than he remembered, and, as he approached the home with his team in tow, he couldn't help but think back about the last time he had been to the place. It appeared to be so long ago.

"Why the longing look on your face?" Ino asked, a bit confused by how his demeanor had changed from serious to happy.

He chuckled, "Just remembering when I last came here."

The young chunin knocked on the wooden door once close enough. It didn't take long to hear approaching footsteps before the door opened to reveal an older version of the boy Naruto remembered as Inari.

"Naruto!" The pre-teen gave a large smile when seeing his idol, the person who had gotten him out of his gloomy attitude.

"Wow, you grew a lot Inari," Naruto pointed out in slight awe, wondering just how he had gotten so much taller, almost reaching his chest. Remembering that he had company, Naruto moved to the side in order for Inari to see the visitors.

"These are Ino, Choji and Hinata. They're my friends."

Ino turned to Naruto, crossing her arms and raising a brow, "'Friends?'"

Naruto shrunk under her gaze as his cheeks reddened slightly, "Um… Ino's actually my girlfriend."

"What!" Inari yelled out in shock. This girl was something else and, even though he liked Naruto, she seemed to be way out of his league.

The chunin's right eye twitched in annoyance at the look of disbelief on Inari's face. "Why does everybody do that?" He muttered under his breath as he crossed his arms in annoyance.

Ignoring the last comment, the pre-teen led the group of ninja into his home, quickly showing them to the living room as he flashed them an exited smile before moving to a set of stairs on the side of the room. He spun on his heels and gave the group a nod.

"My mom's upstairs, I'll go get her!"

Naruto watched the kid leave before glancing at his team, finding that Choji and Hinata were sitting on one of the couches of the room while Ino walked towards him with an amused smile. He fought the urge to roll his eyes, knowing that the look meant trouble.

"Why are you still acting like a little kid when it comes to 'us' stuff?" She teased upon getting closer to her boyfriend so that the others couldn't hear.

"I don't act like that," Naruto argued with a pout, looking away before a mischievous grin formed on his face, "Besides, you're not that better off. Remember back when I was hospitalized after the Chunin Exams?"

Ino looked at him in confusion, "What does that have to do with anything?"

"Well I remember feeling something press against my cheek. Right… here," Naruto pointed at his left cheek for emphasis, "I didn't know what happened then but, thinking back, I think I know what happened."

"We weren't even a couple then, of course I'd be embarrassed," Ino countered with an angry blush.

"Oh, Ino you're looking a little red on the face now."

At that last comment, Ino crossed her arms over her chest and looked away, "Fine then, no more kissing from now on."

"Huh?" Naruto let out dumbly as he processed the words.

"You heard me," Ino continued, now with a smirk on her face due to the look on Naruto's face. It could probably be explained as a perfect 'what the hell have I done?' look.

Before Naruto could answer, Inari came back down with an exited smile, standing on the room's doorway with his smile growing as his mother, Tsunami, came into the room.

"Oh my, if it isn't Naruto," she let out in surprise, smiling at the group of ninja, "You sure have grown."

The teen in question smiled sheepishly while scratching the back of his head, "Everyone says that but I don't really see it." He motioned at the group of ninja with him before speaking, "These are Choji, Hinata and Ino, my girlfriend."

Ino smiled contently at the last comment, taking note of the way Naruto smiled nervously at her, probably not happy with what she had announced earlier. She, enjoying kissing just as much as he did, didn't plan on going through with it but it would be fun to see how he would handle it.

"Nice to meet you all," Tsunami smiled politely at the group. "I made a bit extra food today… if you're hungry that is."

"We are," Choji replied with a big smile, earning chuckles from the team of ninja.

She nodded at them, "Alright, I'll get everything ready. Please, make yourselves at home."

* * *

><p>The cool night air washed over the area as a smiling Naruto stood against a tree, not too far from Tazuna's home. His hands were busy with one of the scrolls he had gotten back on Whirlpool, reading over its contents with furrowed brows.<p>

It was his third scroll so far and, while the others had some jutsu and seals he would definitely try later, this one had some history of the place though not too much. The scroll only summarized what the summon had told him, about what kinds of techniques they used and how they mostly kept to themselves.

He read the rest of the contents dismissively before his eyes widened in shock. There, almost to the end of the scroll, read the words, 'Kyuubi.'

'…_the current host was in an advanced age. A new one was needed which is why, in order to prevent the demon from being free, Whirlpool deemed it necessary to assign a new one. A young girl with special chakra…'_

"N-Naruto."

Said ninja was torn from his reading, feeling a bit agitated at what he had been reading before turning to the owner of the voice and raising a brow. It was Hinata, looking at him with a bright blush on her face, holding both hands together which he noticed were trembling slightly.

"What's up Hinata? Is there something wrong?"

Hinata shook her head while turning her gaze to the ground, "I, um… have to tell you something." She looked back up to see Naruto giving her an odd look, making her feel a bit more nervous when realizing that he had been busy reading something, "Um… you don't have to if you're busy."

"It's no problem," Naruto assured with a smile, putting the now highly interesting scroll away and moving to stand closer to Hinata, "So, what did you want to talk about?"

Her cheeks reddened instantly, taking a few steps back and gripping the end of her jacket nervously. "F-For a… for a long time… I um…" she stammered, too nervous to form a complete sentence, "I-"

"It's nice out, right?"

Hinata glanced at Naruto, feeling confused at the last comment, and watched him looking up at the stars with a sad smile on his face, "Naruto?"

He shook his head, eyes meeting Hinata's. "It's nothing, don't worry about it," he assured before digging both hands in his pockets, "I'm just happy with how things are right now. I guess you can notice things like the weather when you're happy..."

His gaze fell on the ground, "I'm really happy to have you... everyone, as a friend..."

The words hung on the air as Naruto began to walk away, passing by Hinata and uttering, "...Sorry."

Hinata was left alone, tears streaming down her face at the indirect rejection. She had known that he was with Ino. He was happy.

She had known her chances were close to none. Everything was stacked against her and yet, when speaking to him she had felt hope.

_Hope. _

Even though she had known that he didn't feel the same, she had still held a bit of hope that maybe he would have a change of heart. It sounded foolish to her now, believing that something like that could happen, it was incredibly childish of her. She had acted on blind impulse.

More tears streamed down her face as she lowered to her knees, letting out a quiet sob.

It wasn't fair. She had loved him first. She had always watched him and have been the only one not to talk bad about him. So why did Ino get to be with him? What was the thing that made Naruto like _her_?

"I... shouldn't have told him... I didn't stand a chance."

"It would have hurt more then."

Her eyes widened as she snapped her face to the side, finding Choji standing next to a tree with a sad smile on his face. She tried to wipe the tears away but they wouldn't stop flowing and, the more she did it, the weaker her hands became until they fell at her side as she let out a quiet sob.

Choji, having wanted to talk to Naruto about their travel home, didn't expect to run into such a scene. Hinata's crush on the blond was no secret, at least to everyone except for Naruto, but he had no idea that she would actually confess.

"I don't know much about this stuff," Choji admitted a bit sheepishly, "But holding something like that in… it can't be good for you." He walked next to Hinata and placed a supportive hand on her shoulder, trying to make her feel better. They might not have spent much time together but he wasn't the kind of person to leave someone crying like that.

Hinata continued to cry, silently thankful to Choji for being there.

* * *

><p>Ino smiled contently as she made herself comfortable on the bed she would be sleeping at, it was almost as comfortable as the one she had at home. She was tired from the long travel but had taken a long bath before getting changed and getting ready to sleep.<p>

She glanced around the small room. It was light brown wall, a few pieces of furniture against the walls and a single bed next to a window with a clear view of the starlit sky.

There were four rooms in the home, though one was a lot smaller than the other and could only fit one bed, and it had been decided that whoever went into the single room first would get to sleep in it while the others would have to share the other room. A smile formed on her face, knowing that she had gotten the room to herself.

Her gaze turned to the window, watching as the trees and bushes rustled with the wind, and couldn't help but wonder where Naruto had gone. He had left right after they had finished dinner, saying something about being busy.

"Oh well…" she yawned as she covered herself with the bed sheets, "I'll talk to him in the morning."

Her eyes closed before she heard the door creaking open before closing. _'I was just about to sleep,' _she groaned as she turned to see who had entered the room and couldn't help but let out a quiet gasp.

"Naruto?" She let out in surprise, finding her boyfriend standing in front of her bed without saying anything.

Before she could ask what he wanted, he leaned down and captured her lips in a kiss. She was a bit surprised at first but returned it with just as much affection. The two let out short pants as the kissing got more aggressive, both lips searching for more as his hands rubbed her back.

At this point Ino pulled away, letting out shot pants as she rested her forehead against Naruto's, her blue eyes staring into his, "W-What was that for?"

"I wasn't about to let your 'no kissing rule' go on for more than a day," he smiled as he sneaked into the bed and draped an arm around her waist, making her flush. Naruto, seeing this, looked deep into her eyes, "I won't do anything you're not ready for. I just..." He pulled her closer to him, closing his eyes as he took in her scent, "I just want to stay like this for a little bit."

Ino smiled as she snuggled closer to Naruto. "What made you think any of that was going to happen? You just broke your no kissing punishment and I'm not too happy about it."

Her eyes lit up in mischief as she caught Naruto's lips in a short kiss, pulling away just as he was about to return it. "Don't worry though, it was a stupid punishment anyway," she spoke quietly, earning a smile from Naruto as the two kissed again, this time a bit more heatedly.

'_Sleep can wait,' _Ino concluded as she gripped the front of Naruto's shirt.

* * *

><p>It had rained recently, Kakashi noticed due to the smell of the forest he and Asuma were currently walking through. Their trip, which hadn't been quick due to the place they were going to being a considerable distance away from Konoha, had been pretty uneventful. At least they were getting closer, considering the change in temperature.<p>

"I hate days like this," Asuma commented as he reached into his flak jacket for a pack of cigarettes.

Kakashi looked at his traveling companion with his eye squinted in boredom, "Are you talking about how quiet it is or the weather?"

The other ninja shrugged as he lit his cigarette and inhaled its contents before letting them out in a cloud of smoke, "Both to be honest."

"Ah."

Despite having known each other for some time they weren't the type to start a conversation but it wasn't necessarily bad. The two of them appreciated silence, considering the people they associated with on a daily basis, but having that silence on a long trip got boring really fast. He was sure he wasn't alone in wishing to meet with someone they were familiar with on their trip to the Waterfall Village.

"I don't understand why we have to represent the village on this Chunin Exams..." Kakashi let out with a hint of annoyance.

Asuma nodded as he looked up, half-expecting to see the bright blue sky but instead seeing nothing but leaves, "She can't be bothered now that Jiraiya is back. Who knows what he found out to keep her so busy all the time?"

Kakashi's visible eye narrowed in thought. Jiraiya must have come with news of the Akatsuki, the group that had its eyes on one of his students. As his sensei, Kakashi had taken it upon himself to train back to where he once stood and then some, all of this in order to fight the Akatsuki.

If Tsunade had declined an invitation to the Chunin Exams then that meant that whatever information Jiraiya had was highly important.

Most likely meaning that the Akatsuki had begun to move.

* * *

><p>"What do you mean he didn't get there?" Temari all but spoke to the Sand countil.<p>

"We've just received word from the Waterfall Village," a councilmen spoke, "The Kazekage did not make it to the meeting place with the stationed Waterfall ninja."

Shikamaru, now older and wearing the standard jonin uniform with a flak jacket on top. His mouth was formed in a deep scowl as he thought of what could have happened on Gaara's way to the Waterfall Village. Beside him stood Kankuro, just as worried as his sister was about his brother's disappearance.

"A group of Waterfall ninja are on search of the Kazekage but, of course, we'll be sending out own men," the councilmen continued.

Temari and Kankuro stepped forward, placing a hand to their chests with their eyes burning in determination.

"We'll go," Temari spoke with no room to argue, "We're already a formed team. It would be best to send us first and then prepare the others."

Chiyo, the head of the council, nodded at the siblings, "As this is an emergency you may leave immediately. We'll send others as soon as possible."

"Right," the two Sand ninja replied before bolting out of the room with Shikamaru following behind.

They moved fast, quickly making it out of the building and moving through the hot streets of the Sand Village. It wasn't long until they were running on the outskirts of the village, heading for the desert that would lead them to the Land of Fire.

"I know you guys are worried," Shikamaru spoke up from behind the two siblings, gaining their attention, "But we can't just leave like this. We have to at least resupply somewhere, we're low on equipment from our last mission."

Temari frowned as she cast a look at Shikamaru, "Then what do you want us to do? Go back to the village and waste time?"

"No," Shikamaru replied calmly, "We just have to keep our cool and think before rushing there. There's a place on the way to the Waterfall Village, the Tanzaku Quarters, it's about midway to it. We can resupply there and rest since I doubt we'll make the whole trip in one go."

Kankuro glanced at his sister, watching as she gritted her teeth, a sign that she was debating the suggestion. "Sounds good," he spoke up, "We can't just rush there since we'll end up with no energy once we get there and be nothing but a burden. If we want to find Gaara then we'll have to be at full strength."

"Fine," Temari agreed after a moment of silence, "We'll stop there but we're only resting for a few hours."

"Sounds good," Shikamaru replied, rolling his eyes at how bossy she was, "Troublesome woman."

* * *

><p>"We have to get some new equipment..." Naruto muttered to himself as he and the others walked on the outskirts of Wave, having passed the 'Naruto Bridge' a few hours ago.<p>

He had been a bit embarrassed about having a bridged named after him and the bit of teasing that came from his team did not help. But, all things aside, he guessed that he had left a big impression on Tazuna after his first mission was over.

"What are we doing then? Going straight to Konoha?" Choji asked from his spot behind Naruto.

"We're not," he responded as he glanced back at the group, "There's a place where we can get new stuff. It's not too far away from here and it's on the way to Konoha so it should't be a problem."

"Really?" Ino spoke up, looking at her boyfriend in curiosity, "What's the place called?"

"Tanzaku Quarters," he replied with a small smile, thinking back at his first trip with Jiraiya. Ridding himself of those memories for now, he continued to speak to his team, "The place is filled with gamblers and bars but I saw some shops with ninja equipment the last time I was there."

"And when was that?"

"Three years ago."

Behind the group Hinata watched the exchange with a downcast look on her face, still feeling the aftermath of her 'confession.' Though feeling a bit better of getting something like that off her chest, she was still far from okay.

"You alright?" Choji asked quietly, having lessened his pace in order to talk with Hinata.

Said girl looked at the couple ahead, now engaged in a playful banter with Naruto blushing while Ino got closer to him and told him things that made him blush even more.

"I'll be alright..." Hinata spoke quietly.

The Akimichi gave her a grin before turning back to the road ahead and then to the sky, noticing the faraway storm clouds.

_'Looks like there's a storm coming...'_

* * *

><p>Kakashi was an observant man, which is why he instantly knew something was wrong when they set foot on the Waterfall Village. Upon nearing the village's gate there was a large amount of ninja moving from place to place with a bit of panic on their faces. After that, they had told the gatekeeper the reason of their visit and had been simply let in with no escorts or ninja keeping an eye on them which was what told him that something was wrong.<p>

He and Asuma were currently entering a large building that stood before a large lake that surrounded a giant tree in the middle of the village, having only one bridge leading to it which was behind the building he was about to enter.

They entered the place, almost instantly noticing how hectic it was. People rushed about with piles of papers on their hands, ninja entered and left the place and others wrote furiously behind their desks.

"Just what happened here?" Asuma muttered to no one in particular as he and Kakashi walked over to a young girl standing behind a reception desk..

"Hmm?" The girl let out as he looked up, noticing the two ninja approaching. Her eyes widened when seeing their headbands and flak jackets. She tensed up before speaking, "Oh! Um... What do you want?"

Kakashi dug a hand into his right pocket as he threw a glance at the people rushing about, "We're here to see your leader. We came here for the Chunin Exams and are reporting in to him."

"S-Sure," she nodded at them with a sheepish look on her face before bowing apologetically to them, "I'm sorry! But he really can't see you now! Sorry."

"It's okay," Asuma assured, trying to calm the girl down since they were getting odd looks from the people in the room. He cleared his throat as he turned back to the girl, "Then when can we see him?"

The girl pulled out a clipboard, running through the many pages on it before coming to a stop, "Um... you can see him tomorrow at noon."

"Fine then," Kakashi sighed out as he and Asuma left the building.

Upon leaving, the two were met with the usual cool breeze as they thought of what to do. They didn't know the place so it would be best to find the inn the village had reserved for those attending the Chunin Exams. The two walked quietly, both having much more than finding an inn on their minds, like wondering what was going on in the village.

**Ch.10 End**

**This was shorter than usual but I really wanted to get this chapter out of the way. Anyway, I'm not sure when I'll be able to update but I'll try to make it quick. So, until then. **


	11. The Missing Kage

**I wanted to apologize for not having updated for so long but I've been really sick lately and didn't feel like writing or going over what I had done. Anyway, I feel a lot better now and hope to update a lot more. **

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><p><strong>Naruto: Making of a Hokage<strong>

_**Kazekage Arc**_

**Ch.11 The Missing Kage**

After having traveled most of the day, something that was starting to be usual with Naruto as a squad leader, the group of Leaf ninja had finally made it to the Tanzaku Quarters, a place filled with questionable people. It was just as Naruto remembered but he thought as much since, in his opinion, places like these didn't change much.

The group had separated upon taking a few steps into town since it was filled with all kinds of tourist attractions. Naruto left with Ino since they needed to get new equipment while Hinata opted for finding a place to spend the night and, lastly, Choji had left saying something about finding a good place to eat. They hadn't decided on where to meet but it wasn't a problem since they knew that it wouldn't be too hard to find each other.

"Naruto…"

"H-Huh?"

Ino's eyes were narrowed, calculating, on the busy street. Next to her walked a really nervous Naruto who tried to keep himself from looking around, knowing that his girlfriend was already pissed off.

"What the hell is this?" She let out angrily while motioning at the women standing outside of bars and calling him over with lust-filled voices.

Naruto already knew that he was in deep water so he chose his next words very carefully, "W-Well you see… Jiraiya-sensei and I stopped by here a few times actually."

"So you lied about last coming here three years ago."

He winced at the sharp tone she used but knew he had it coming for lying about the whole thing. "Fine, I'll tell you what happened," a blush crept on his cheeks as he averted his gaze from Ino, "I last came here a few months ago."

"Go on," was her blunt reply as her cold glared settled on him, making him more nervous than he already was.

"Well… Jiraiya-sensei thought that it'd be a good idea to take me here for my fifteenth birthday," he spared a glance at Ino and grimaced when noticing the way she was looking at him, expecting him to go on. "He ended up taking me to some weird place and telling all the girls that worked there about me. I've never ran so much in my life."

Ino didn't answer for the next few seconds and, after an eternity to Naruto, she closed her eyes and nodded. "Okay, you didn't let them do anything…" her eyes snapped open, burning in quiet anger as they looked into the deepest part of Naruto's soul, "Right?"

"O-Of course not!" He yelped.

"Fine then, no problem. It's not like you wanted to come here anyway," she walked closer to Naruto and latched onto his arm, pulling him closer while giving a glare to a few of the women. "But I can't say the same about your teacher. I'm going to find a way to get back at him."

Naruto chuckled as the two began to walk once more, "Count me in then. I didn't exactly like being stalked by old ladies."

"Outta the way!"

The two ninja broke apart as a teen rushed past them with a large bag clutched to his chest. They watched him disappear in the distance while wondering what all that had been about before their attention shifted to a man running towards him and stopping to catch his breath right in front of them.

The man let out several pants as he supported himself on his knees while breathing heavily and letting out a few coughs. "Damned brat," he muttered to himself, "I'll freaking find him!"

"What happened?"

The man looked up and noticed the two teens standing in front of him. "You didn't see him? The brat that stole my money!" His nose scrunched up angrily as he motioned around the area with both hands, "He ran through here! I saw! You must have seen him!"

"About that…" Naruto trailed off as he glanced at the direction in which the teen had disappeared.

"You have to find him!" The man pleaded, "He stole all the money from my shop's earnings today."

"Shop?" Naruto replied with his face showing interest, "What kind of shop?"

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><p>"Isn't this against some kind of rule?"<p>

"Nah… People hire ninja all the time so there's nothing wrong with this."

Ino rolled her eyes at Naruto's reasoning. The two were currently standing on the roof of a tall building, with Naruto looking over the town with a confident grin on his face.

"Well, it's got to be frowned upon…" she muttered to herself.

Naruto's grin only widened, pretending not to hear her last comment, as he put his hands in a single hand seal, "Shadow Clone Jutsu!"

Hundreds of clones shot in all directions, jumping off the building and scattering. They took the rooftops, streets and outskirts of town. All for one single goal.

"We're going to find that guy in no time," he announced with the same grin. He placed both hands behind his head and sat on the edge of the building, "Then once we get the discount on the equipment, we can go somewhere. Just the two of us."

A smile graced Ino's face as she ran through hand seals before slamming both hand on the ground, "Summoning Jutsu!" A small eagle appeared before her, looking at her expectedly.

"I'm going to look for the guy too then," she announced before glancing at him and winking, "I trust you with my body Naruto."

Something about the way she said it made Naruto blush deeply as he watched her run through hand signs before her body slumped over. Not wanting to have her fall, he jumped from his spot on the roof and managed to catch her before she hit something. He then lay her next to him and set his eyes on the town, trying to keep any mental images out of his head.

The next few minutes were quiet before his eyes suddenly widened. He quickly stood up and, almost jumped out of his skin when seeing Ino do the same.

"Don't you have some kind of warning to when you wake up?"

She only smiled, "Nope, but it's worth it to see the shocked expressions on people's faces."

Naruto chuckled before jumping off the building with Ino following behind. The two landed on another roof and proceeded to make their way through town quickly. They didn't want their target to escape before they could get to him.

The blond was thankful of having the shadow clones since they proved to be quite useful in situations like these. With the help of Ino, one of the clones managed to find their target before dispelling and giving him the location which was somewhere on the outskirts of town.

Soon the two ninja finally made it to their location and hid among the trees as they looked for their target.

"Over there," Ino whispered over to him while pointing to where their target was. Naruto followed her direction and noticed the guy sitting against a tree while panting heavily. He gave her a grin before putting up three fingers and counting down.

The teen, having just stolen the money, smiled to himself as he reached for his bag but, before he could even touch it, ninja wire wrapped around him and tied him to the tree, effectively immobilizing him.

"W-What the hell?" The teen let out as he struggled against the hold but to no avail, the wire wouldn't even budge and his movements were making it hurt. He stopped moving and looked around in fear before yelling when seeing the outline of two people from the shadows moving towards him.

"Got you," Naruto grinned before picking up the bag and slinging it over his shoulder. He then gave Ino a questioning glance, "What should we do with him? I was thinking of just leaving him here but I don't think it'll be safe."

Ino had to agree. Leaving this guy alone would probably end up with him being eaten by some wild animal. "We could just return him to the shop owner."

"Sounds good," he made a hand seal with his left hand and, with a burst of smoke, a clone appeared next to him.

"What the hell? You're ninja!" the trapped teen yelled out in shock as the Naruto clone walked over to him and began to take off the ninja wire. The teen waited and when his hold gave out, he instantly ran before being tackled to the ground.

The Naruto clone smirked as he kept the teen down with his right knee, "I love it when they run. It makes things a lot more fun."

Naruto slapped a hand to his forehead, knowing that there was nothing worse than having a sadistic clone. Ino simply looked at the scene in amusement before raising as brow as the clone suddenly stood up straight and grunted slightly.

"What are you doing?" Naruto let out in annoyance before his clone suddenly burst in a cloud of smoke, making the real one reach for his katana with his eyes concentrated for any sort of movement. Ino stood with her back to him, covering his blind spots while he covered hers.

"Wha-" He let out in mild amusement, having received the memories of his clone, and eased his stance, instead looking at a tree and grinning, "It's been a while Shikamaru."

Ino looked at Naruto oddly before following his line of vision and noticing her friend sitting on a tree branch covered by the darkness of the forest. She couldn't help but sigh as she crossed her arms over her chest, why the hell had he freaked them out like that?

"I can't believe I'm saying this since you can be a real pain in the ass, but it's good to see that you're back," Shikamaru joked as he dropped off the tree. "But still, what's up with that guy about to run away?"

Naruto and Ino yelped as they turned to the teen that broke into a sprint. He only took a few more steps before a shadow latched onto his, stopping him dead on his tracks and making him yell out angrily.

"Why did you guys capture this guy? He can't be an assignment from the village since he doesn't look like a threat."

Naruto chuckled as he made a clone and had it hold the teen's arms in order to keep him from running away again. He would usually just use more ninja wire but they didn't have enough to do the job since the stupid clone had cut the wire holding the teen against the tree.

"Just an odd job," Naruto admitted with a shrug. "We just came back from Wave and came here to resupply," he explained before pointing a finger at the trapped teen, "And that's when we ran into this guy."

"That's good enough for me. All these details are just annoying."

"What are you doing here Shikamaru?" Ino spoke up, a bit confused, "Weren't you supposed to be in the Sand Village for a few months?" Naruto glanced at Ino with a raised brow before shifting his gaze to Shikamaru, who only sighed and dug both hands into his pockets.

"I'll tell you guys later," he let out as he motioned towards the trapped teen, "Just get rid of that guy and we'll talk. I've got a few things to do so I'll meet you guys near the castle's walls."

Shikamaru began to walk away, lowering his pace when getting closer to Naruto. "This information is going to be important to you, Naruto," with that he passed by both ninja, leaving them confused.

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><p>Hinata had never been a very confident person nor the most emotionally stable, which is why, while surprised at fist, she had been more than hesitant of taking Choji's offer to take her out to eat. Part of her was grateful to have him help her through this, though he obviously had no clue of what he was doing since he would act really awkward around her, but she couldn't help but feel a bit peeved since she had wanted to be alone for the next few days.<p>

"Aren't you going to eat?"

The sudden voice startled her, eyes widening slightly before she regained herself and looked at Choji, who had his eyes on her. She looked down at her plate to find it almost full, telling her that she had been spacing out again.

"Y-Yeah," she muttered as she ate a bit more of her red bean soup. It was one of her favorite meals but it tasted a bit bitter to her.

She looked down sadly as it dawned on her that maybe the food was fine and she was just too troubled to enjoy it.

"Nothing like good food to make you feel better, right?" Choji announced with a smile as he continued to eat.

Hinata looked at him with a small smile. While the food wasn't making her feel much better, knowing that Choji wanted to make her feel better… it was enough for the moment.

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><p>"Did you get enough for everyone?" Ino asked her boyfriend upon exiting the store belonging to the man they had helped out earlier.<p>

It was a simple building with cream colored walls and a sign hanging over a wooden door, a pretty common place though it sold really different merchandise than the other shops near it. The man had said that ninja tools sold for high prices which is why he got into the business, though the couple had half-listened as the man rambled on.

"Yeah," he answered while looking at Ino through the corner of his eye, "Maybe if you hadn't been looking around, you would have noticed…"

Ino rolled her eyes, having known that Naruto would be a bit stingy of having to deal with the shopkeeper by himself. He looked a lot more comfortable around adults but she noticed that he was a lot quieter when left alone with one. Things like these would have to be dealt with head on, at least in her opinion, so having him get used to it would do him good.

"Fine. Fine. I'll stay with you next time," she sighed out. Naruto, having had his pride just wounded at needing to be with her like a little kid, nodded absently. Ino noticed this and decided to change the subject, "What do you think Shikamaru wanted? He actually looked serious for once."

Naruto's brows furrowed, appearing deep in thought. "I have no idea," he responded with a hint of worry in his voice, "It's not like him to look get so worked up over anything that isn't major."

His eyes hardened when noticing that they were almost to the castle, "We're here anyway. Let's just look for him." The blond kunoichi nodded as she and Naruto walked along the gates of the castle before their eyes caught sight of movement.

Three figures jumped down from a nearby building, making the couple take a few steps back in order to have more space in case of an attack, but they relaxed upon getting a good look at who had just landed on the ground in front of them.

There stood the Sand Siblings minus one and Shikamaru, the latter digging both hands into his pockets and rolling his eyes.

"Just like you to be late."

Ino scowled, "You didn't tell us when to get here. If we're late then it's your fault."

Shikamaru grumbled something under his breath as he motioned at his two companions, "These guys want to talk to you."

"Hmm?" Naruto let out in confusion as he and Ino glanced at them.

Temari took a step forward, her face taking a grim expression as she began to speak. "This is important so I'll be blunt," she began as her eyes narrowed, "Gaara's missing."

"What?" Naruto replied instantly. He tightened his right fist and frowned deeply, "When did it happen?"

"About a day ago," Kankuro replied with his arms crossed, "He was on his way to the Waterfall Village but he never made it. We have no idea what-"

"Summoning Jutsu!"

The group of ninja let out surprised gasps as a large toad appeared before them.

"Yo Naruto! Why'd you summon me?" The toad spoke as it looked around, wondering just where he had been summoned this time.

Ino looked at the toad in shock before shifting her gaze to Naruto, "Naruto! Why did you summon it so suddenly?"

Naruto ignored her question and wrote furiously on a scroll he had taken out of one of the pockets on his vest. "Here," he extended his arm towards the toad once he finished writing. The toad took the scroll as Naruto pocketed his brush. "Take it to the Hokage. Jiraiya-sensei should still be there so summon yourself to him, it'll be faster. Get back to me once you're done."

"Got it," the toad responded before disappearing in a cloud of smoke.

The ninja present were thrown off at what had just happened but waited for Naruto to explain himself.

"Why did you guys come here?" Naruto asked the group of Sand ninja plus Shikamaru.

This time it was the Nara that responded, "We came her to get some equipment and rest." He clasped the back of his neck while giving the blond an odd look, "I knew you knew Gaara but don't you think you're getting too worked up?"

"I guess you're right," he responded a bit lamely before turning to Ino, "Let's go get some rest. We have to keep moving tomorrow."

"R-Right," Ino agreed though still not knowing what Naruto was doing.

He turned to the other group of ninja and gave them a small wave, "We're leaving guys."

With that, Naruto left three very confused ninja behind. His behavior had been all-but normal which led Shikamaru to believe that the blond knew something that they didn't. He didn't know why he kept the information to himself but at least he knew that it had something to do with Gaara.

He looked over his retreating figure with a frown, _'What do you know, Naruto?'_

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><p>"Naruto! Why did we leave like that?" Ino let out desperately, trying to find out what happened to him all of a sudden.<p>

She was currently walking after him since he had yet to stop moving since talking with Shikamaru. It was beginning to scare her.

"Do you remember why I left the village back then?"

The words took her by surprise, making her concentrate on him and noticing that he had stopped walking. They were alone now, standing on an empty street with a few open shops. She shook her head, ridding herself of those thoughts as she focused on the question she had been asked.

'_Why did he leave the village?' _She repeated in her mind. He had said something about needing to protect her from some people… Her eyes widened at the revelation, "Some people were after the Kyuubi."

"Yeah," Naruto nodded before he turned around to see her properly. "Gaara is a jinchuuriki, like me," he went on as Ino's face began to show realization.

"T-Those people showed up!" She let out in shock, watching as the blond nodded once more. No, it couldn't be. Why did they just show up like that? Just when Naruto got back to the village.

"It's too early for me to say that but I'm pretty sure it's them," he explained with a scowl, "Gaara is just like me. He experienced everything I did as a kid. No. He's life was even worse. And now those bastards want to kill him... I won't let that happen."

"Then that letter…" Ino trailed off, having an idea of what was in it.

"Yeah, I asked Granny Tsunade to let me go with Shikamaru and the others," he admitted, "I'll have her answer by tomorrow."

"Then I'll go with you," she declared while placing a hand on her chest, "I've been training hard for something like this. So I'll go."

"But it'll be dangerous and-"

"I don't wanna hear it," she crossed her arms and gave him a stern look. "Just like you would fight to protect me, I want to fight to protect _you_." A blush crept onto his cheeks as Ino gave him a smile, "Quit being so stubborn and let me help you."

He couldn't help but smile. Ino was just as he remembered but something in her had changed. Something that made her look strong and confident. For the first time since he got back from Konoha, he felt as if he had missed out. Missed out on seeing these changes take place.

"Fine," he smiled as he looked into Ino's eyes, making her a bit confused. A chuckle escaped the blond as he broke the gaze, "You know, you've really grown up."

Ino cocked her head to the side, "Really?"

A grin spread on his face as he leapt at Ino and pulled her into a sudden hug, making her yelp and let out a laugh.

"What are you doing Naruto?" She cried out with a smile.

He didn't respond but grasped her sides, making her yelp and let out a series of laughs as he pushed her against the wall of a building. His tickling session ended as he pulled her into a hug and rested his forehead against hers.

"There's something seriously wrong with you Naruto." She giggled as her cheeks reddened. Her eyes looked lovingly into his while feeling his breath tickling her lips, she couldn't help the involuntary shudder that shook her body.

With a mischievous grin, Naruto pulled away, "Let's get going."

"Huh?" Ino let out confusingly and only now noticing that her lips were slightly pursed. She blushed in embarrassment before regaining herself and looking at her boyfriend with a fake frown. "Why did you do that?"

He shook his head, "No reason." A yawn escaped his lips as he clasped both hands behind his head, "Besides, we can do it later and I'm sure that you wouldn't like us kissing here."

She rose a brow at that before looking around the street and noticing how empty and gloomy it was, clearly not a romantic setting. She had to smile at that, it looked like Naruto had learned a little more about relationships, though the way he said 'it' sounded like something else entirely.

With a smile, Ino walked closer to Naruto and clung to his arm, resting her head on his shoulder before the two began to walk once more.

'_We should walk like this more,' _she decided while trying not to look too much at their surroundings. The town, clearly being a place for gamblers and other shady people meant that it didn't have the best setting. She looked up at Naruto, having just thought of something.

"Hey Naruto…" She called out. Naruto turned his gaze to her with a bit of curiosity on his eyes, "Are we going to tell the others about what you think happened to Gaara?"

The change was instant. Naruto's jaw clenched, eyes hardened and a scowl etched on his face. Ino felt a bit bad about bringing up the subject but she had to know. She didn't want anything to slip out if they met again.

"No," he decided after a moment of silence. His eyes lingered on the area ahead before they closed and looked back at her, "I really think that it's _them_ but it's still not a sure thing. I don't want to worry the others if there's the chance that Gaara is just running late or there was some kind of roadblock."

"You're right." It could have really been anything that kept Gaara from showing up. Worrying the others wouldn't help since they were already moving pretty quickly and it wouldn't be safe to have them rush without thinking.

"Anyway…" he trailed off as a grin formed on his face once again. "Let's go find somewhere to sleep. We can look for Choji and Hinata tomorrow."

"Sounds good, I'm pretty tired," Ino admitted with a weary grin.

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><p>The sun's rays hit the Waterfall Village as Kakashi and Asuma made their way through the large street on the side of the large lake. The giant tree, the monument of the village, covered most of the sun which left the place cool unlike Konoha, which had pretty warm mornings this time of year.<p>

Kakashi glanced at his traveling partner before looking back ahead. He was a bit insulted at having Asuma wake him so early in the morning and watch over him so keenly since, according to him, he would end up being late if not watched. He took offense at that. Being late in Konoha might be his thing but he didn't remember being late to a meeting with other villages, he didn't want them to get think that Konoha shinobi were always late.

"We're almost there."

"You didn't have to announce it did you?" Kakashi replied while watching Asuma take a long drag on his cigarette.

Smirking, the bearded ninja took the cigarette between his fingers and let out a small cloud of smoke. "I didn't want to risk you leaving. A repeat of what happened in Suna is that last thing we need right now," at the mention of the place, Asuma placed the cigarette back on his lips, "Looks like I'm bringing them up unconsciously."

"Yeah," Kakashi agreed.

It hadn't been difficult to find out why the village was acting so strangely. The Kazekage, due to meet with a group of Waterfall ninja, had never made it to the checkpoint. They had sent several groups of ninja to look for him but so far nothing had turned up.

Kakashi didn't know much about the relation between the Sand and Waterfall villages, but he did know that this was not good. If the Kazekage wasn't found then there would be tension between the two villages. Even if Waterfall had nothing to do with it, the Sand Village would become suspicious.

"Our hands are tied," Kakashi spoke up after a moment of silence. "While they let us walk around the village, I'm sure they wouldn't let us just come and go as we please. Not to mention their reaction to our assistance. They might appreciate it but, more likely, we'll be on their way."

Asuma nodded, "We might be allies with Sand but it's not our mission to look for him. Who knows? With so many teams around, someone will find him."

The other jonin agreed though he didn't voice it. Their walk continued a lot more quietly this time. They were on their way to meet with the village leader and knew that thinking about the Sand's predicament wouldn't help.

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><p>"Do you think they'll be okay?"<p>

"Yeah, there's a lot of them and I don't think just anyone can go head to head with them."

"Right…." Hinata replied worriedly as she kicked off a tree branch and aimed for the next one.

She and Choji were making their way back to Konoha. After a small gathering with a very serious Naruto and Ino, it had been decided that she and Choji would leave for the Leaf while he and Ino went with the Sand ninja, plus Shikamaru, to do another mission. She hadn't asked about it since spending time with Naruto was not something she wanted to do, so she had simply followed orders.

"But I wonder what the mission was…" Choji rambled off with a thoughtful look on his face.

The Hyuuga glanced at the Akimichi and shrugged. "Whatever it was, it sounded serious."

"Yeah," he agreed while looking off in the distance. "I just hope they'll be okay."

* * *

><p>Shikamaru sighed from his spot next to Naruto. The group was currently rushing towards the Waterfall Village, the spot Gaara never reached, in order to look for him. Temari and Kankuro ran at the front of the group while he, Naruto and Ino ran behind them.<p>

"So let me get this straight. You summoned a toad to give a message to the Hokage. Then, after getting an 'okay' from her, you and Ino came with us while the others went back," he spoke to Naruto, who regarded him with a raised brow.

"Pretty much."

"Then randomly summoning the toad and leaving dramatically was just you being an ass," he grumbled with a roll of his eyes.

Naruto exchanged a look with Ino before they both chuckled. "I guess it might look that way," he responded with a grin before holding up a hand, seeing as how Shikamaru seemed annoyed, "But I had a good reason."

"Which was?"

"I'd tell you if I could," Naruto responded with an apologetic grin. He looked ahead, now more serious, "If more things point to it then you'll be the first to know."

'_I__f more things point to "it"? What is "it"?' _Such thoughts ran through Shikamaru's head as the group continued to move. He knew Naruto, at least he thought he did, but he didn't appear to be shaken at all. He looked pretty calm but, glancing back at the look of worry Ino held, he knew that there was something going on.

_'Looks like I don't know him that well after all,' _Shikamaru thought as he wondered just what was going on.

**Ch.11 End**


	12. When Nine Meets Seven

**He're the new one guys. Thanks to those of you that reviewed and added the story to their favorites or alerts, I appreciate it. **

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><p><strong>Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto<strong>

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><p><strong>Naruto: Making of a Hokage<strong>

_**Kazekage Arc**_

**Ch.12 When Nine Meets Seven**

"We're here to see your leader."

The receptionist looked up to see the same ninja from yesterday. Her demeanor changed almost instantly, eyes widening and mouth slightly agape as she looked around nervously.

"U-umm…" She fumbled with the clipboard she kept on her desk, quickly looking through the pages before finally coming to a stop and letting out a sigh of relief. "Yes, you can go in now he's not busy. He's on the fifth floor."

"Got it," Kakashi responded as he and Asuma moved for a set of stairs that stood on the wall opposite to the entrance.

The stairs were a brown color, just like the walls, and had a single window between each floor. They passed by the other floors without paying them much attention but noticing that each floor had a hallway with several doors that seemed to extended pretty far.

It didn't take them long to make it to the fifth floor, this one being a lot different from the others. It was set up to look like the first floor but had a couple of ninja standing in front of a wooden door that stood before a reception desk where an old woman sat.

"Excuse me," Asuma approached the lady, earning an odd look from her, "We're here to see your leader."

The woman darted her eyes between the two ninja before reaching under her desk and taking out a piece of paper. "Let's see…" she trailed off as she studied the paper, "Rock. Sand. Mist… Ah! Here it is! Leaf."

Curious, Kakashi managed a peek at the paper the woman held and almost lost his composure. He couldn't believe a receptionist for a village leader would need a paper with the symbols for each village to identify them.

"He's expecting you so you can go in," she declared.

"Thanks for your help," Asuma spoke since Kakashi seemed to be a bit annoyed.

The two approached the wooden door and were subject of the inspecting looks from the ninja guarding the room. They returned the intense stares in what could be described as a standoff before the two Waterfall ninja stepped aside and opened the door for them.

Upon entering the room, the two Leaf ninja had to admit that the place was fitting for a leader. It was a large spacious room with light brown walls that held a few painting. A dark brown desk sat in front of three large windows that overlooked the giant tree that stood out in the village. The few rays of sunlight that sneaked through the heavy forestry gave the tree an unearthly glow.

"You must be the Konoha representatives."

The two jonin bowed their head at the leader of the village sitting behind the wooden desk, which was covered by all sorts of scrolls and documents.

"Sorry about meeting with you until now," Kakashi said as he and Asuma stood up straight, now being able to properly look at this village leader.

He was young. That was the first thing the two noticed. He had simple black eyes, with the right one slightly covered by the bangs of his dark brown hair that reached mid-back to the green shirt he wore under a long-sleeved light blue cloak that showed his status.

The young leader shook his head. "I should be the one apologizing but as you probably already know, we've been quite busy lately," he admitted.

Kakashi took note of the bags under the leader's eyes, which he guessed had not been very visible because of his long hair. "It's no problem really," he answered before nodding his head slightly, "I am Kakashi Hatake, Jonin of the Hidden Leaf Village."

"I'm Asuma Sarutobi, Jonin of the Hidden Leaf Village," the other jonin responded with a firm nod, "It's really a pleasure to be able to meet you."

The young leader grinned slightly as he glanced at the older man, "I'm Shibuki, leader of this village. But let's leave this formal talk aside for now, I want to know if you feel welcomed in this village or if you need anything."

Asuma shook his head, "We don't need anything save for any information on the Chunin Exams."

"What kind of information are you talking about?" Shibuki asked as he placed both elbows on his desk and rested his head on the back of his hands.

"We're wondering if there have been, or if you plan to, have any changes on the schedule of the exams because of what happened," the bearded jonin answered.

The young leader nodded as worry showed on his face. "They were scheduled to start in three days but if this situation is not taken care of by then, we'll probably wait until it's resolved."

Asuma glanced at Kakashi, receiving a nod before he glanced back at the village leader, "We'll be leaving now. Thanks for having us."

"No problem," Shibuki replied as the two ninja left the room. He let out a loud sigh as soon as the door closed. Now he had to get back at the piles of paperwork and the hundreds of ninja busting through his door since his break was almost over. He wondered if being the village leader had really been worth all the trouble.

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><p>Tsunade clenched her jaw as she sat behind her desk. She had never expected to receive a message from Naruto telling her that the Kazekage had disappeared, much less said ninja offering himself to look into it while at the same time telling her that he would go even if she didn't allow it.<p>

'_Damned confident brats,' _she scowled before glancing at the man in front of her, his face showing rare seriousness. "What do you make of this Jiraiya?"

The sage shook his head. He had read over the message at least five times and knew for a fact that Naruto had figured out the same thing he did but left it out of the message. Tsunade, of course, came to this conclusion as well which is why he was standing before her desk at the moment.

"We can't discard the Akatsuki being responsible for this," he stated with a grim look on his face, "Which makes Naruto going there all the more dangerous."

Tsunade nodded while leaning back on her seat in exhaustion, having had tons of paperwork before and now this to think about, "Then you already know why I called you here."

"No problem illustrious Hokage," Jiraiya grinned as he made for the window, "He might be strong but there's no way I'm going to let him handle the Akatsuki alone if I can help it."

With that the sage jumped out of the window and moved from roof to roof at a fast speed while Tsunade watched him leave with a worried frown on her face. She might be the Hokage and had to make an example of what a shinobi should be but she couldn't help but worry about the blond that had come to be like a son to her. At least now that Jiraiya was on his way she could have a bit of that worry off her shoulders.

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><p>It was dark as the group of Leaf and Sand shinobi walked through the dense forest that seemed to stretch on forever. They had traveled all day and had to call it a day since they couldn't make out their surroundings because of how dark it was. The group decided that they would set off the next day since they were sure that the Waterfall village was only a few hours away.<p>

They had found a small clearing and began to set up camp. Naruto, Ino and Temari were in charge of camp while Shikamaru and Kankuro left to find firewood. The prior group had taken the easier task as they only prepared the area for the fire and not much else.

"We're moving early tomorrow, before the sun rises. So be ready," Temari informed as she sat herself on the ground near where the fire would be.

The blond couple followed her lead and sat themselves on the ground as well. "Sounds good to me," Naruto agreed with a nod, "The earlier the better."

Ino nodded absently while looking around the wooded area, trying to see if there was anything interesting around. Temari didn't look like she wanted to talk and Naruto, well he had an impatient look on his face and would fidget occasionally.

She frowned lightly before speaking, "Naruto is there something wrong?"

He didn't answer but suddenly stood up firmly and turned away, "I have to go do... something."

"Where are you going Naruto?"

Naruto scowled at Ino's question before glancing at her over his shoulder, "To do my business."

"Oh," Ino laughed lightly before turning her gaze to her surroundings once again. She would usually look up at the starlit sky at times like these but today it wouldn't happen since the forest blocked most of the sky from view.

"We're back."

She turned at the sudden voice and found it to be Shikamaru along with Kankuro, both holding pieces of wood under their arms. The two set the wood down on the area that had been prepared for the fire before sitting themselves on the ground.

"You were serious," Kankuro stated while glancing at Shikamaru incredulously. The Nara turned his glance at the puppeteer, not saying anything before the latter finally snapped. "Fine! I'll start the fire, you lazy ass."

Shikamaru groaned as he laid on the ground with his arms spread wide, "I've been traveling all day and looked around for firewood, you can't expect me to have energy to do much else."

Kankuro grumbled something under his breath as he worked on getting the fire ready while Shikamaru looked around curiously.

"Where did Naruto go?"

"He'll be right back," Ino responded, giving her teammate a look that told him where her boyfriend went. Shikamaru chuckled and made himself a bit more comfortable on the ground.

"We're really close to the Waterfall Village now," he began before letting out a yawn. "Temari and Kankuro should get access to it easily but you, me and Naruto will probably have to wait."

The kunoichi nodded in understanding. Because of the problem with the Kazekage, the Waterfall Village would surely allow Sand ninja to come and go in search for answers but it wasn't the case for them. Leaf ninja didn't have any business in the village so it would take a while to go in.

Shikamaru, for his part, was ecstatic about the opportunity to laze around without doing much. Yes, he was worried about Gaara but it wouldn't do much sense for him to get worked up while waiting to be let in the village. He would just take it easy and rest.

'_Besides, being rested might be the difference between life and death… That wasn't too bad,' _Shikamaru pondered on the line he just thought of, finding it to be a good rule to go by. _''Yeah, I'll just tell this line to anyone that whines about me being lazy. That'll get them off my ass.'_

"Got it!" Kankuro let out cheerfully as the fire cackled on the pieces of wood he had set up. Pride showed on his face as he grinned and placed both hands near the fire to get warmth.

Temari rolled her eyes at her brother's behavior, "You're acting like a little kid Kankuro. There's no point to making a fire anyway, we just use a small fire jutsu on gathered wood and that's it."

Kankuro shook his head with his grin still in place, "But I didn't use any jutsu, or chakra for that matter. I did it the hard way. Rubbing the wood with my strong male hands."

"There's so much wrong with that last sentence that I'm not even going to bother," Shikamaru muttered to himself.

"Still, you're a ninja so it shouldn't be too hard. And it's not even cold out, I don't get why you're trying to get warmth from the fire."

Kankuro scoffed, "I'm cold."

"No you're not, look at what you're wearing."

Shikamaru groaned, "Are you guys going to start this again?"

Ino laughed quietly as she watched the exchange between the two siblings. It was good to see them acting a bit more lively than before. They had been really worried for the whole day so it was good to see them relax even if there were still hints of worry on their faces.

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><p>Naruto sighed contently as he zipped up his pants and approached the small pond near the tree where he relieved himself. He crouched near the water's edge and began to wash his hands as best as he could while keeping an eye out for anything.<p>

He had made it to the clearing a few moments ago. The darkness of night and how far it was from camp had made it the ideal place to stay hidden and have his privacy. Plus he was glad to have a view of the full moon that lit the area, something about it would always make him feel calm.

The blond pushed those thoughts aside as he sat himself on the ground. "Might as well get this over with," he sighed out as he reached for his katana and pulled it out, its blade glistening with the moon's rays. "Let's see…" he reached into his vest and pulled out a few pieces of paper along with some ink he had bought back in Tanzaku Quarters.

With his old katana destroyed, he needed to modify this new one. The first time had been difficult since Jiraiya refused to help him, saying that it would help him in the long run, but he figured that it wouldn't take as long this time. He already knew what he needed to do so it shouldn't take more than an hour to set up the seals and about a day for them to settle on the blade.

His attention turned to one of the pieces of paper, drawing the proper seal before pressing it against the katana's handle and letting go once he made sure it would stay in place. He got to work on the next seals, pressing them against the blade this time, before he put a hand on the katana's handle and the other on the blade. He closed his eyes as he added chakra into the seals while making sure not to overdo it, doing so would end up with a small explosion that would leave him with several burn marks, he knew that from experience.

"There," he let out with a small grin as he placed the katana on the ground next to him. He wasn't done but, while not very dangerous, he was finished with the most difficult part of the process. Now all he needed to do was add more seals to the blade and then he would be done unless he messed up which was very unlikely.

His eyes widened suddenly as he pushed off the ground, dodging incoming projectiles that he noticed were kunai, and managed a standing position, but he couldn't rest yet as more kunai moved towards him.

"Show yourself!" He yelled as he took out a kunai of his own and flung it. The projectile approached the others before suddenly increasing in numbers and knocking the horde of kunai aside without much trouble.

Naruto gritted his teeth when receiving no answer. Just what was going on? He knew for a fact that they weren't in the village so why was there someone attacking him?

"You're not welcomed in my pond, human."

He turned on his heels when hearing the feminine voice speak. His eyes focused for any sort of movement, straining in the darkness but he couldn't see anything except for trees. If he couldn't see her then that would mean that he would need to get her to show herself.

"Leave before I kill you."

"Wind Style: Devastation!"

A powerful gust of wind shot out of Naruto's mouth, pushing back tree branches and even taking some down. He kept his eyes focused and inwardly smirked when seeing a figure jump high in the air.

'_Gotcha.'_

Naruto followed after the figure, running up a tree before jumping off of it and coming face to face with the aggressor. It was a girl about his age, with mint green hair and energetic orange eyes that seemed to sparkle under the moonlight. She wore a shot sleeveless white midriff with fishnets underneath, white armlets and fishnet shorts with a white apron skirt over them.

The blond's eyes went to the object covered in red wrapping on her backs, deeming it a weapon for now.

The girl's eyes narrowed as she raised a hand to her mouth, seeing this Naruto quickly ran through hand signs but wasn't quick enough as she exhaled a bright substance that suddenly shone brightly, making him let out a yell of pain as he covered his eyes which proved to be a grave mistake. He felt a fist connect with his stomach with so much force that he couldn't help but gasp for air as he fell towards the ground.

'_Dammit!' _He managed to regain himself and land safely on his feet before opening his eyes slowly. They stung badly but he couldn't fight like that, he wasn't that skilled. He dismissed those thoughts as looked around, finding the girl to have disappeared once again, _'Where'd she go?'_

His answer came in the form of rushing footsteps coming from behind him but he was ready this time. He quickly spun in place before running through hand signs, taking the incoming girl by surprise.

"Take this!" He placed his right hand on his mouth before releasing several air bullets. The girl easily saw through this and continued to run, ducking under some of the bullets and jumping over others.

Naruto cursed under his breath before taking out a couple of kunai and charging in at the girl who, seeing this, took out her own kunai and met him head on, their weapons impacting loudly against one another as they ended up in a deadlock while staring heatedly at each other.

"Who are you?" Naruto asked as he pushed against the girl that was way more physically stronger than she looked.

Her orange eyes glared into his, "I won't tell you a thing. You're the intruder."

Chakra flared around her, making Naruto bit back a gasp as she pushed harder against him and began to push him back. He tried to hold on but when seeing the two 'wings' that had formed on her back, he buckled under her strength and had his kunai knocked away.

"You're done," the girl muttered as he stabbed her kunai into the defenseless teen that managed a grin before receiving both weapons on his chest. She looked at him confusedly before he burst in a cloud of smoke, making her let out a quiet gasp and look around for the intruder but was tackled to the ground before she could get a good look.

She found herself laying under two Naruto clones that had a firm hold on her arms and legs. A bit of fear welled up inside of her at the thought of what this ninja would do to her. Memories hit her like a ton of bricks and she began to flare her burning red chakra.

"Oh no you don't," said the real Naruto as he ran up to her and slapped a seal onto her forehead, lessening the amount of chakra she flared, and proceeding to place another on her exposed stomach, completely shutting off the chakra.

"What do you want with me?" The girl let out as she trashed against the hold which she figured was all she could do.

Naruto let out a sigh as he sat himself next to the girl and dismissed his clones. Now free, the girl jumped to her feet and ripped off both seals before setting her eyes on the sitting ninja who held up both hands with an almost bored look on his face.

"Calm down, I don't want to fight you," he assured though it did nothing to the hostile look on the girl's face. "Why did you even attack me? I wasn't even doing anything bad to the pond and, trust me, I thought about taking a piss on it but didn't."

The girl's face scrunched up in disgust, making Naruto grin inwardly at having a bit of a reaction out of her.

"So tell me…" he trailed off as he put on a serious look on his face, "What's a jinchuuriki doing out here?"

Her eyes widened as she took a couple of steps back and reached for the object on her back, "What do you want with me?"

"Don't worry," he waved her off as he unzipped his vest and pulled up his shirt to reveal his stomach. "Watch closely," he placed a hand to it and added chakra, making his seal appear and glow slightly.

"You're-"

"Yeah," Naruto interrupted with a grin, "I'm a jinchuuriki too."

She said nothing, instead looking at the seal intently. It looked like it had been messed around but, then again, she was no expert in sealing.

"So tell me why you're out he-"

"Fight me," the girl interrupted with a serious look on her face. Naruto looked at her incredulously but she paid him no mind and tapped into her beast's chakra, forming two red wings made out of chakra on her back, "I want to see what another jinchuuriki is capable of."

Naruto chuckled lamely. "I'm not really..." he trailed off when looking well into the girl's eyes. Her orange eyes showed eagerness, possibly because she had never met another jinchuuriki. A lot more emotion showed on her face and Naruto knew that if he wanted answers then he would have to go with what she was saying, at least until things got too heated.

"Fine then," he grinned as he slipped into his taijutsu stance.

The girl grinned as well, "I'm Seven. Beat me and I'll tell you my real name."

"Same goes to me," he answered, "For now call me Nine."

No more words were spoken as the two jinchuuriki stared at each other before breaking into a run.

**Ch.12 End**

**Alright, you're probably wondering why Fu is still around but that will be answer in the next chapter. I know this one was kind of short but I really couldn't add much else. I'm not sure when the next chapter will come out but I'll try to get it out soon.**

**Also, I have no idea of what other pairings I should have here. So I'll just ask you guys about it. **

**What other pairings would you like to see in this story (as long as their reasonable)? Or, should I just not add any?**


	13. Nine vs Seven!

**Sorry about taking so long to update but I had to go through hell in the form of exams. They just left me completely wiped and I had to take a small break. But I'm back now and should be able to write more.**

**I just want to leave one thing clear before the chapter begins, I won't have any other girls be with Naruto since I don't want this to turn into a harem. All other pairings will be taken into consideration.**

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><p><strong>Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto<strong>

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><p><strong>Naruto: Making of a Hokage<strong>

_**Kazekage Arc**_

**Ch.13 Nine vs. Seven!**

Naruto knew, from meeting Gaara, that he had been lucky. Yes, he had gone through painful times but they paled in comparison to what the latter had gone through; betrayal, indifference and hate. Ever since then he had started to grow doubtful but, like the ninja he was, he hid it somewhere where nobody could see it.

Jinchuuriki were stains to the villages. Stains of what they had done and how dark the world was to the unlucky few. It wasn't fair. Why did they have to suffer like that?

He didn't, he had been lucky, but the unlucky ones had gone through hell.

"It's good that you doubt the villages."

Jiraiya would answer with a sympathetic look in his eyes.

"It's only human to doubt who you work for. That's why we need to let out the pent up stress that builds up over time. Because if we don't, then we'd do something stupid."

With an almost annoyed expression, Naruto would answer, "Don't try to make excuses for your peeping."

After that day Naruto noticed something. He was only fighting to protect his friends. Those people that meant the world to him. If it weren't for them then he was sure he would curse the villages to hell and get as far away as possible.

Run away with the unlucky ones.

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><p>Seven could barely hold down her excitement over finding another like her. She had heard about there being more but she never thought she would run into one. The village kept her under heavy supervision and trips were rare so, to her, meeting a jinchuuriki was a big deal. It made her wonder what kind of things 'Nine' could do.<p>

That's why she wanted to test him, to see if he could control the demon sealed within him and the only way to do this would be to fight. She was okay with that. She liked fighting, it relieved her pent up stress and it gave her the chance to see if she was improving.

"Wind Style: Air Bullets!"

The attack made Seven aware of her surroundings. She was in a crouch position on a tree branch with Naruto standing on the ground and unleashing his attack. The wings on her back extended before flapping down on the direction of the bullets, dispersing them without any trouble before, with a flap of her wings, diving towards the blond rapidly.

Albeit a bit surprise by the speed, Naruto ran through hand signs and put a hand to his lips. He unleashed his attack on the ground, letting out a powerful gust that kicked up a large cloud of debris to block him from view but, with a flap of her wings, Seven shot a powerful gust of her own that cleared the area to show Naruto holding a hand seal in place.

"Wind Style: Slicing Winds!"

Blades of wind shot at Seven, forcing her to flap both winds downwards and take to air in a matter of seconds, effectively dodging the first couple of blades and noticing more coming her way. Her eyes narrowed on the incoming attacks as she maneuvered through them in a show of agility and elegance.

Back on the ground, Naruto scowled as he thought of what to do. Seven was way too agile for his long range attacks to hit and, while closer range attacks seemed to be the obvious choice, her ability to fly made things more difficult. His mouth curled upwards, it looked like things were going to be difficult.

Meanwhile the last of the wind blades passed by Seven without making contact. She turned to where Naruto was and dove towards him once more but he didn't move. Naruto stayed in place with his eyes focused on her movements which is why when she threw a jab at his chest, he managed to sneak under it and land a crushing blow to her stomach.

Her eyes shot up in pain but managed to hold back a grunt as she was thrown off course by the power behind the blow. Now she was heading straight for the ground but before that happened, she twisted her body in order to land safely by rolling with the momentum and getting back to her feet. She staggered a bit but regained her balance and set her eyes on the blond once more.

She had to give him credit. He was strong even without the aid of his bijuu. It made her wonder if the others were like him but she dismissed the thought quickly, seeing as he was beginning to move again. He disappeared into the shadows but it wouldn't be a problem to her, her bijuu's ability let her find him without much trouble.

Naruto moved quickly through the shadows but, much to his shock, Seven appeared right in front of him and punched at his chest. He barely had time to react but managed to block the punch with both his hands before gripping tightly on her extended fist and flinging her over his shoulder but, with unmatched flexibility, Seven twisted her body awkwardly and landed on one foot before pushing off of it and jabbing a fist into his stomach.

Pain shook his stomach as surprise filled his eyes. That had to be the strongest he had been hit in a long time and it was nothing short of a miracle that he hadn't yelled out in pain.

With his mind elsewhere, he wasn't quick enough to dodge the kick that followed. The bone crushing kick struck his right side, knocking the wind out of him as he was hurled through the air due to the power behind the blow. He took a deep breath to calm himself as he sailed through the air and looked at where he was headed only to let out a startled yelp, noticing the thick tree he was nearing head-first.

_'Shadow Clone Jutsu!' _He managed the jutsu just in time. The clone appeared at his side and hurled him upwards before he could crash on the tree.

"She's strong..." Naruto muttered to himself with a weak grin as he flipped in the air and landed safely on the tree, both feet planted on its bark as he watched his clone land on the ground. "Give me an opening," he instructed, "That's all I need."

The clone smirked and charged forwards just as Seven landed on the ground in front of it. Her eyes held a bit of disappointment as she flapped her two wings to create a powerful gust that sent the clone flying through the air but it wasn't done yet, it flipped in the air and planted both feet on a nearby tree before kicking off of it and shooting towards her. She began to chew as the clone neared her. It threw a punch but, before it made contact, she spat out a pink substance that latched onto its arms and face.

It landed on the ground and flailed wildly before disappearing in a cloud of smoke. Seven grinned pleasantly as she took to air again but, just as she ascended, several blades of wind shot at her from all directions. A look of panic struck her face as she maneuvered through the attacks but wasn't agile enough to dodge the one that cut off both of her wings in a single shot. Without her wings, she fell rapidly as she tried to regain the necessary chakra to form her wings.

They were only halfway formed when the real Naruto jumped out from under the ground she was nearing, holding a bright blue ball of chakra on his right hand.

"Rasengan!" He exclaimed as he jabbed the attack at her shocked face but it disappeared before it made contact, leaving Seven confused as he wrapped an around her torso in order to break her fall. The two landed safely on the ground, Naruto dropping his hold on the girl and taking a few steps back with a grin on his face.

Seven frowned, feeling as if he was rubbing his victory on her face. "Fine, fine. You win," she crossed her arms under her chest before sighing in defeat since it had been a good workout. She thought back on the fight before a anger flashed on her face and she approached the blond before kicking him on the shin.

"That hurt!" Naruto yelled out in pain as he nursed his shin while jumping on one leg. He glared at the girl as he tried to sooth the pain, "What the hell was that for?"

Seven't frown deepened as she covered her chest from him, "You just grabbed me there out of nowhere!"

He had the decency to blush at the accusations. "Oh come on! You were about to crash on the ground. What was I supposed to do? Let you fall?"

"I would have preferred death over some lowly pervert grabbing my breasts."

"I didn't _grab _them," he explained through gritted teeth, "I put my arm over them, that doesn't count!"

"Whatever," she huffed, "I've had enough of your excuses. Anyway, since you won I have to tell you my name even though I really don't want to share it with someone like you."

Naruto didn't answer, he only looked at her with an angry expression on his face.

"I'm Fu," she introduced with an amused look on her face.

"Naruto..." he muttered before walking towards the pond's edge and sat down next to where he had left his katana and studied it. Everything looked fine but he still needed to add a few more seals.

He reached a hand into one of his vest's pockets but, before he could, Fu sat next to him without saying anything. There was a bit of space between them but her hand was close to his, their fingers almost brushing together, making him suppress a sigh. Fu clearly didn't trust him and was making sure that he didn't try anything with the blade by keeping close to his hand.

"I'm not going to attack you or anything. I just have to add seals to this thing."

She didn't respond but moved her hand away, though only slightly. "Tell me..." she spoke, a lot more seriously than before. She seemed to think about the question before finally speaking, "How did having a bijuu work out for you."

"I can't complain," he answered truthfully, earning a look of slight shock from Fu. "I mean, it did suck but things didn't escalate from getting ignored. I think being thrown out of stores was the most I got when it comes to violence."

Silence filled the area again and Naruto wondered it he was the only one glad to be able to talk so openly to someone. Just by being a jinchuuriki the two had a lot in common and could confound in each other what they had gone through. They probably had similar experiences and would know what the other exactly felt.

"What about you?" He asked, breaking the silence in an attempt to get to know her a little better.

Fu smiled bitterly, "Why do you think I'm all the way out here?" She leaned back to support herself with her elbows, figuring that she didn't need to keep on the edge with Naruto anymore. "The higher ups of the village are always trying to get me killed by assigning me on dangerous missions every once in a while. The worst part is that they barely let me leave the village, the most they do is let me live out here to get away from the idiots that would raid my apartment constantly."

"But how can you live out here?" Naruto asked in wonder.

"It's not so bad," Fu shrugged before getting up and stretching her arms. "But that's not important, instead tell me why you didn't use your bijuu's power?"

A few more seals were added to his blade before he glanced back at Fu. "I can't," he responded calmly, "Long story short, my seal got messed with and contact with the fox was cut off. I've barely heard its voice in the last few years."

"You can do something like that..." she muttered to herself but broke out of those thoughts, instead focusing on his situation, "Is there any way of undoing it?"

Naruto frowned. "I talked it over and came we came up with two solutions," he explained as he held up two of his fingers, "One; I could use the 'key' to my original seal and undo the changes. Or two; the fox could forcefully rip through the seals preventing contact but that would require me and it to be on the same page. Either way, both come with danger of the fox getting loose so I figured that I should just give up on ever using its chakra again, it wasn't like I liked using it anyway."

"i guess it's for the better," Fu declared with her arms crossed, "Besides, we should still be able to take them out without much trouble."

"W-What?"

Fu ignored the question, smirking as she kept on talking. "We're _two. _I don't think any human will be able to stop us without help," excitement could be heard on her words while Naruto's expression grew grim, "Imagine if we got all of the others together? We'd be unstoppable. We'd be able to get away from all those humans and live happily somewhere far away."

"Humans?" Naruto interrupted.

Fu looked at the blond with a raised brow, not knowing what he was getting at.

He gritted his teeth as he rose from the ground with a defiant look on his face, "What are you talking about? You're human too."

"I'm not and neither are you," she answered, "If we were then we wouldn't be treated differently. They're afraid of us because we're not human."

Naruto's hands shook in rage. Ever since he was a kid everyone made him out to be a monster but he never believed them, something deep down told him not to believe him. How could Fu let them do that to her? How could she give up so easily? How could she be so stupid?

"You are human!"He took a quick step forward and clasped both hands on her shoulders, looking deeply into her eyes in an effort to get his point across. "You can't let them take away who you are. Don't throw it away just because those idiots treat you differently!"

Fu glared at him intensely. "Get off me!" She pushed him away with a punch to his chest, knocking him against a tree. Naruto rose to his feet slowly, noticing the vile chakra gathered around her. "You don't know what I've through and I'm not going to listen to some idiot that thinks he's human."

"But we are!" He yelled back, returning the glare. "I know what it feels like to have everyone call you a demon but you can't listen to them. Even if you're alone and suffering, you can't turn into what they make you out to be. If you do that then you'll just end up hurting the people that really care about you."

"I don't have anyone!" Fu exclaimed in anger, "Nobody has ever cared about me! I'm not like y-"

"Then let me be the first to care about you!"

Fu's eyes widened at the exclamation. She took a step back, wanting to run away but not being able to.

"You are a human with a demon locked inside of you, not some kind of monster," Naruto went on, "You can have bonds just like me and Gaara. You don't have to be alone anyomore."

"Enough!" Fu let out loudly. She turned on her heels and ran off, disappearing int he darkness.

Naruto, knowing that she didn't want to talk, sat himself on the ground while wondering it he had seen a few tears just when Fu turned away from him. He just wanted to help her but didn't know how. Things had been a lot different with Gaara since they had fought each other to exhaustion just to prove their beliefs. That had been what changed Gaara but how could he get Fu to see his way?

"Naruto?"

He whirled to his right at the sudden voice, finding Ino walking towards him with a hint of worry on her face. She looked around suspiciously before moving to sit next to him.

"Are you alright? I thought I heard something around here," Ino's left hand found his and rubbed it soothingly, silently telling him that it was okay to talk.

Naruto smiled as he gazed into her eyes, finding his earlier worries melting away. "No, it was nothing," he assured. The last thing he wanted to do was worry her, so why tell her about Fu? He figured that he should just tell her when they all had their minds off the Gaara situation.

"Okay," Ino gave in, watching as he took his katana and placed it on its sheath with a triumphant smile.

"I'm finally done with this thing," he pulled himself off the ground and offered his hand to Ino who took it in order to stand. He dusted his pants before giving his girlfriend a smile, "Let's go back."

Ino nodded absently as Naruto pulled her away. She could have sworn that she heard Naruto arguing with someone but he wouldn't lie to her... would he?

* * *

><p>"Why do I get the feeling that today's gonna be a pain in the ass?" Shikamaru muttered to himself as he, Naruto and Ino stood on a tall tree overlooking part of the Waterfall Village. Temari and Kankuro had left as soon as the sun rose but not before telling them to be on ready for when they got back.<p>

He had been glad at first. Talking with the higher ups and coming up with what to do would take them hours which would mean that he could laze around all day but, of course, he had to be stuck with Naruto and Ino who wanted to look around and be ready. It was just like them to be up and about.

"Relax, it's not like we're doing much anyway," Naruto responded with a grin.

"Whatever," Shikamaru jumped down the tree, followed by his teammates, and dug both hands into his pockets. "And we might not be doing much now but trust me when I say that we're going to be running around for hours when those two get back."

Ino smirked at the way he spoke, as if he had no other choice but to do it, "Come on Shikamaru, are you that whipped?"

Naruto looked at Ino curiously while Shikamaru scoffed. "I'd rather listen to what she says than listen to her complain," he responded in an aggravated voice.

"Temari bosses Shikamaru around all the time, it's almost funny to see," Ino explained after seeing the look on her boyfriend's face, earning a grin. "But enough of that. Let's go look around, I'm getting bored."

"Sure," Naruto agreed even though he was a bit tired from the previous night. Ino had an exited glint on her eyes and he figured that he wouldn't be able to talk her into staying in place.

Shikamaru grumbled as the two blonds walked up ahead. Defeated, he began to walk despite his wishes but took a small satisfaction from the strained smile on Naruto's face.

"And they say I'm whipped."

* * *

><p>Temari scowled as she and Kankuro walked through a street overlooking a large lake surrounding the giant tree that towered over the village. The meeting with the Waterfall leader hadn't gone too smoothly. His ninja had only found what appeared to be the site of where a battle took place and that was it. They hadn't investigated further which made her lash out at the leader's way of doing things. She knew better than to do that but she couldn't help it; just thinking about what Gaara had gone through his whole life and what he was going through now was enough to cloud her judgment.<p>

Beside her, Kankuro only watched as his sister stomped her way out of the village. He had given up on telling her to calm down since it only made her mood worsen. Of course, he was also feeling as if the Waterfall Village hadn't done too much to look for their brother but he had to keep a cool head, for everyone's sake.

"Temari and Kankuro, right?"

Both Sand siblings turned at the sound of the voice, finding the familiar masked face of Kakashi, the copy ninja, with another Leaf ninja that looked a bit familiar. The two jonin were standing just outside of a restaurant, apparently just done eating.

"What are you guys doing here?" Kankuro asked in genuine confusion.

Kakashi shook his head. "That's not important right now. You two are looking for the Kazekage, right?" The two Sand ninja nodded at the question as the copy ninja put a hand to his chin. "I take it you have a lead."

Temari exchanged a look with her brother before addressing the Leaf ninja, "They found a battle site we're about to check out."

"I see," Kakashi sighed out before suddenly running through hand signs and slamming both hands on the ground, creating a large cloud of smoke.

"What is it this time Kakashi?"

Said ninja grinned underneath his mask at his summon, Pakkun. "I want you to go with these two," he motioned at the two ninja, taking them by surprise. "They're looking for someone and they'll need you to take them on the right way."

"Got it," the ninja hound nodded before turning towards the two Sand ninja, "Where's the scent?"

"It should be less than an hour away," Kankuro explained.

Temari looked back at the ninja hound and gave him a nod, "It's this way."

With that the three left the area, leaving Kakashi and Asuma behind. The latter took out a cigarette and put it to his lips without lighting it.

"Think they'll find him?"

Kakashi nodded. "Pakkun should still be able to find the scent even if it's a couple of days old," he explained, his voice carrying a bit of worry, "I'm more concerned about what they'll find. I wish I could tail along but…"

"They won't like it," Asuma finished as he cast a look at a couple of ninja leaning against a wall opposite of the restaurant, both with their eyes on them.

* * *

><p>It didn't take long for the Sand siblings to find and regroup with their teammates, filling them in briefly before resuming their sprint through the dense forests that surrounded the Waterfall Village.<p>

Naruto ran at the back of the group, eyes sharp while wondering if Gaara was really okay or had had his bijuu already extracted from him. He quickly dismissed those thoughts with a shake of his head. No, it wouldn't do him good to think like that. Gaara was still alive and they needed to hurry if they wanted it to remain that way.

In an attempt to occupy his mind Naruto looked around the area they were speeding through before his eyes widened in alarm, noticing a shadow running through the blurry shadows from the trees. His mouth formed into a thin line as, without the others noticing, he stopped mid-run and replaced himself with a clone as to not alert the others or the person tailing them.

His teammates vanished in the distance as he began to move in the direction the shadow was probably going through. He leapt from branch to branch until he finally saw the outline of the person he was tailing. A smirk crept on his face as he moved faster, dodging a few branches in the process and finding himself not too far from whoever had been following them.

His fingers twitched, subconsciously getting ready to form the hand signs necessary for whatever jutsu he chose to use. With one powerful jump he came a lot closer to the figure, close enough to distinguish the person's clothes and body build.

"Fu?"

The jinchuuriki looked over her shoulder, startled, at the ninja following behind her. She stopped on her tracks as Naruto did the same on a branch in front of the one she landed on.

"What are you doing here?" His voice carried suspicion as he looked at her with a glare.

Fu scoffed and crossed her arms. "Relax, I wasn't planning on doing anything to _them_," she spat the last word before her expression softened. "Last night… What you told me. I thought about it and wanted to give what you said a chance."

"What does that have to do with following us?"

"I want to see those bonds you talk about myself," she admitted with a shrug. "If I prove what you told me is true then I'll help with whatever you're doing."

Naruto chuckled with a shake of his head. "Fine," he breathed out with a small grin, "But keep hidden from the others, they don't know about you."

"What did you think I was doing all this time?" Fu muttered under her breath.

* * *

><p>Thinking on the spot was not something that came easily to Naruto which was why, as soon as he went back to the group, dismissing the clone and taking its place, he was glad nobody noticed his short absence. He was relieved but he still had one thing to take care of.<p>

He ran ahead of the group, getting odd looks as he passed by, until he ran side by side with Pakkun.

"Hey," he whispered without turning his head. Pakkun's sharp ears heard the whisper and he nodded in acknowledgement. "That person tailing us…"

The ninja hound nodded, having noticed it but not talking about it since the blond ninja had stopped to talk with whoever it was.

"Don't tell anyone about her, she's okay."

After getting his message across, Naruto slowed his pace until he was on the back of the group again. It looked like he had gotten through that without much trouble.

"What's wrong Naruto?"

He almost jumped at Ino's sudden question. She had slowed down her pace to run next to him. Her expression holding confusion as the blond gave her a smile.

"Nothing, I'm just worried about Gaara," he said while trying not to sound suspicious.

"Oh," she replied, a little disheartened. "Don't let it worry you, we'll find him."

"Thanks I… no?" He couldn't finish his sentence as Ino ran up ahead again, taking him by surprise.

"What's up with her?" he asked himself, feeling a bit hurt at the way she blew him off.

Up ahead, Ino made sure not to look back at Naruto. She had noticed him switching himself with a clone, she was the one running closest to him after all. But why was he hiding things from her? First his suspicious leave on the woods and now this?

Whatever it was, as much as it hurt her to admit it, Naruto didn't trust her the way a boyfriend should.

**Ch.13 End**


	14. Blast from the Past!

**Naruto: Making of a Hokage**

_**Kazekage Arc**_

**Ch.14 Blast from the Past!**

"This looks like the place," Temari announced as soon as they reached a wooded area with a few cliffs on the vicinity.

Broken trees, craters and spots filled with sand, gave away the sign of a battle. Judging by the looks of everything, it looked like it had been quite the fight.

Pakkun took a few steps forwards as he took in several breaths and moved his head from side to side, as if looking for something. "I got it," he glanced back at the rest of the ninja, "Follow me."

And just like that they were on the move again. Naruto ran on the back since he was the heavy hitter of the team, Temari and Kankuro walked a few paced behind Pakkun, who led the group, and, lastly, Ino followed behind the siblings. The blond running on the back of the group frowned, noticing the distance she had put between them.

_'She hasn't even glanced at me...' _he thought a bit grudgingly.

It didn't take him half a brain to know that he had done something stupid to get her mad but he had no idea what it was. He had even gone the extra mile to not do something to upset her but it had failed.

"Why is she so complicated..?" He let out a sigh before glancing over his shoulder and, being aware of her presence, seeing Fu following from the shadows. "Well, from what happened yesterday, Fu's just like her..."

* * *

><p>A group of masked ninja, sporting black cloaks, moved swiftly through the plains on the outskirts of Fire Country. The wind blew hard against their cloaks, revealing armor under their dark garbs.<p>

One of the ninja, this one wearing a mask resembling a falcon, studied the area they were running through and briefly wondered how far from the Leaf Village they actually where. These scouting missions always took a long time to finish since, being an underground organization, nobody could know of them. This meant that they had to take long and dangerous roads to get to their destination, this without taking into account somebody learning of them. If this were the case then they had to make sure that the 'somebody' was no more.

Adding to the long time it took to get there, they had to collect the payment from the establishments they protected and wipe out anything that wasn't supposed to be there. That's why nobody in the foundation, despite lacking several emotions, wanted these missions. They took too long and there was never anything to distract themselves with.

"I have detected a constant pulse of chakra not too far from here."

One of the members spoke up as the group came to a halt. Their masked faced focused on the sensor of the group who wore a plain grey mask and had a slender build.

"Very well," another masked ninja spoke up, this one wearing a plain white one, "We can't leave anything unchecked. Falcon, you're coming with me and Grey. The rest will stay behind and wait for my signal if we require backup."

The falcon-masked ninja looked to the side, as if scoffing, before following after the leader of the group who, along with the sensor, had begun to move. None of them noticing the bird flying high up in the air with ripples on its eyes.

* * *

><p>Rippled eyes opened in a dark cave lit only by a blue light. A large monstrous statue consumed rays of blue light coming from the unconscious form of Gaara and several figures held up on its fingers. Each of this figures wore cloaks, cloaks with red clouds.<p>

"You two," one of the shadowed figures on one of the fingers spoke up. His rippled eyes on a tall figure that stood next to a more slender one. "A group of ninja are moving towards you. Take the necessary actions."

"Sounds good," the taller figure spoke with a sneer.

The apparent leader, keeping his hands clasped together in a hand seal, dropped his arms to the side. The other Akatsuki members followed his lead, dropping the jutsu and stopping the flow of blue chakra linking them together.

"There's a few coming your was as well," the rippled-eyed leader spoke, referring to the two members that stood before the unconscious form of Gaara. "We'll resume the extraction when they are taken care of."

With that the silhouettes disappeared as did the giant statue, leaving Gaara alone with his captors.

* * *

><p>Naruto pulled on the collar of his shirt as beads of sweat rolled down his face. Pakkun had taken them to a rather warm and humid swamp, apparently without trouble in keeping track of the scent since he didn't slow down. It probably came with how long he had been tracking scents.<p>

_'When are we getting there?' _His usual calm demeanor during missions was breaking and his face showed just how uncomfortable he was. he looked at his team and noticed that Ino and Temari would be the least affected by the heat since their clothes didn't look too warm, Ino going as far as to take off her overcoat a while back.

He grumbled something under his breath, obviously wishing he had taken something cooler, before glancing at the rest of the team. Kankuro appeared to be pretty calm despite the heat, probably used to it since he lived in the desert. Shikamaru was a whole other story, his eyes were half-closed as beads of sweat rolled down his sweaty face. It got to a point where he wondered if the Nara was about to pass out.

"This is where the scent ends," Pakkun spoke up from the front of the group.

Naruto snapped out of his thoughts to look ahead and see a large boulder standing against a tall cliff. It looked normal to the naked eye but Naruto had experience with these sort of things. The many seals placed on the boulder didn't go unnoticed by him.

"Gaara's in there," he thought aloud.

Pakkun looked up at the blond ninja and gave him a nod, "I'll see you later Naruto."

The ninja hound disappeared just as Temari took a few steps forward and undid her fan, "Let's go in there already."

"We can't," Naruto stopped her with a serious look on his face, "The boulder is full of seals that will keep us from entering no matter how much we hit it."

Shikamaru's eyes narrowed, already coming having an idea of what they'd be doing while, next to him, Kankuro stepped forward with a desperate look on his eyes.

"Then what are we supposed to do?"

The blond jinchuuriki turned his attention to the puppet-user. "This is a double seal in disguise," he explained but, seeing as the rest of the group gave him blank looks, he hadn't explained well. "What I mean is that this seal, protecting the boulder, is protected by another seal made to look like its here when it's not. They're probably somewhere around here."

"So we just find them and destroy them," Shikamaru concluded with a smirk on his face. "It'll be a pain to look for them but I guess we've got no choice."

Naruto gave him a dismissive nod while reaching for his vest and pulling out a scroll. "I'll have to undo a few seals here so I can't go look for them with you," he explained.

"Let's go in teams of two, it'll be safer," Ino pitched in.

"Fine," Temari agreed, "I'll go with Kankuro. We were on the same team for quite a while so we work together the best."

Naruto turned his attention away from the boulder to look at the group of ninja. "The seals are most likely in tall places since they're the safest for this kind of seal," he looked to the side and scowled slightly, "They should make a straight line with the boulder from the sides, in this kind of place they should be easy to spot."

"Got it," the group chorused before scattering in opposite directions, leaving Naruto alone for a moment.

His attention turned back to the large boulder and the seals protecting it. Reaching into one of his vest's pockets, he took out a scroll holding his sealing instruments. He quickly got to work, figuring that the seal wouldn't be too hard since its main defense was the couple of seals hidden in separate places.

"So the guy you're looking for is here."

He didn't have to turn around to know who the voice belonged to. "That's right, we didn't tell you who it was..." he wondered aloud as Fu moved to stand next to him with an almost curious look on her face. Knowing she wanted an answer, he continued, "We're looking for the Kazekage. The jinchuuriki holding the Ichibi."

"A jinchuuriki?" Her eyes were wide in disbelief, the prospect of a jinchuuriki being accepted by a whole village too odd for her.

"Yeah," he nodded with an amused look on his face, finding her expression funny, "I was pretty surprised too when I first heard it."

Fu hummed in reply as she watched the boulder intently, "Who's in there with him?"

"Probably _them_," Naruto replied with a deep frown before visually relaxing. Jiraiya had drilled it into his brain to be as calm as possible during battle, he had said that it would help him see more clearly and save his ass in more than one occasion.

But still, it was a bit odd to him. Just by talking and looking at the different expressions on Fu's face, he felt a bit more relaxed. He felt as if there was nothing to hide since she was just like him and, judging by the way she acted around him, he knew that the feeling wasn't one-sided. There was a connection between them, just like the one he shared with Gaara.

He found himself glad to have her there with him.

* * *

><p>"What's up between you and Naruto?"<p>

Ino frowned at the question. She should have known that Shikamaru would notice. he was really perceptive. His comment had come as a surprise since they were currently moving through a swamp and in the middle of an important mission, clearly not the time to pry into her personal life.

"Nothing," she responded after a short pause, "We're okay."

Shikamaru rolled his eyes. "Who do you think I am? I've known you for a long time and can tell that you're mad at him," he gave her a knowing look while knowing that on any other situation, he wouldn't want to hear, much less help, a troubled couple; but hey were about to get into a confrontation and a distraction could prove deadly so he had to help her get over whatever problem she had since it could end up distracting her enough to get her killed.

"Fine," Ino sighed out as she looked down with a pained look. "It's just that… there's something Naruto's not telling me and I know we're ninja and all but he used to tell me everything," her fists tightened as she thought back on what happened, "I told myself that we were back to where we were back then but… somewhere in the back of my mind I knew that we weren't. I don't know what happened to make us so different. Sometimes he does things that make me feel like I don't know him at all."

"You guys just changed, big deal," Shikamaru replied calmly, "You can't expect your relationship to be like it was back then, neither of you are the same. Sure, it might be weird, but you'll get used to it in no time… Or something like that, I don't have a lot of experience with relationships."

"Tell me about it…" Ino replied with a small grin, finding that their conversation had helped her out somewhat. She had already told herself to work harder on getting things back to normal and Shikamaru's pep talk had helped give her the strength to do so. After all, what kind of person would she be if she just gave up?

Shikamaru, having seen that Ino was a bit more calm; turned back to the path ahead. According to what Naruto had said, the seal shouldn't be too far off now. He knew for a fact that the seal couldn't be too far from the large boulder since it was obvious to him that the further apart the seals were, the weaker the boulder would be.

* * *

><p>"Is this it?"<p>

"I think so," Temari responded as she and Kankuro landed on a tree branch that overlooked part of the swamp. On its trunk, before where they stood, was a single seal that glowed a light blue. There was no mistake, this is what they were looking for.

Kankuro studied the seal before glancing back at his sister and, to his dismay, seeing a silent determination on her eyes. "Wait! Should we-"

He stopped midsentence as Temari ripped the seal off the tree, disrupting the chakra flowing through it, before tossing it away and throwing several kunai with deadly precision, cutting the paper into hundreds of tiny pieces.

She smirked, feeling that they were finally going somewhere. With no room for talking she nodded at her brother and kicked off the tree only to be blown back by a powerful gust of air. Her eyes were wide in surprise as she painfully crashed against the tree, not knowing what hit her.

Almost instantly, Kankuro stood defensively in front of her, his brows furrowed as he watched the aggressor, a copy of his sister.

* * *

><p>"This is bad…" Shikamaru muttered with a deep scowl on his face.<p>

Next to him, Ino grinned slightly. "Let's just get this over with," she watched the large cloud of smoke that had kicked up moments after they took off the seal, red eyes glowing from within the smoke.

She had a feeling that they would be a bit late to meet with Naruto.

* * *

><p>Naruto smiled, determination showing on his face. The rest of the seals on the large boulder had disappeared, meaning that the others had done their job. He initially planned to wait for everyone to get back but at the same time he knew that time was not something they had, besides, it wasn't like his team would take too long to get back.<p>

"I'm going to destroy the boulder, get ready Fu," Naruto announced as he stretched out his right arm, a ball of compressed chakra taking shape in his hand before growing in size. His brows furrowed in concentration as he leapt at the boulder and jabbed his attack into it, "Giant Rasengan!"

Fu watched as the attack expanded in size before engulfing the boulder and kicking up a large cloud of dust and rubble in the process. Now with the boulder gone, she could make out a cave behind the rubble but, before she could do anything else, the sound of something burning rung in her ears.

Her eyes opened wide and she wasted no time in forming her wings and quickly taking flight. Explosions began to go off and Naruto was moving towards them, about to take the worst of it, but before he could, Fu caught him by the side and pulled him away from the many explosions that followed.

"They got away, yeah?"

The two jinchuuriki heard a voice as soon as the set of explosions ended. Fu frowned as she kept a hold on Naruto while hovering in the air.

"But I never expected another jinchuuriki to be here," the voice went on with mild amusement on his voice.

Fu dropped her hold on Naruto as soon as she lowered herself to the ground, undoing her wings in the process and watching as the last of the rubble died down to reveal two ninja wearing black robes with red clouds. The blond jinchuuriki's breath hitched in his throat, his heart beating wildly on his chest.

It was _them. _The Akatsuki. It was what he had trained three years for.

"Three jinchuuriki's at the same time," the blond Akatsuki member smirked, "Looks like we'll get what we want a lot sooner, yeah?"

The other Akatsuki member nodded while taking off the straw hat they would usually wear. Naruto watched in shock as red hair emerged from the hat and blue eyes looked at his own, a smirk forming on the Akatsuki's member face as she watched the blond's reaction.

"Y-You're…" Naruto stammered, "Mayu?"

The older Uzumaki kept the smirk in place as she spoke. "I've wanted to see you for a long time. After the whole fiasco in the desert, I want nothing more than to make you pay for it," her hand extended and a very familiar scythe appeared before them, "The idea of killing another Uzumaki doesn't sit too well with me but I'll make an exception this time."

Naruto unsheathed his katana while glancing at Fu through the corner of his eye, "Be careful with them, if you're in trouble get behind me and-"

"Enough of your hero complex," Fu replied with an exited grin on her face, "I'm more than strong enough to take care of myself. Watch your own ass."

He chuckled slightly as he added wind to his blade, extending its length. This was all he had trained for, fighting the Akatsuki and coming out alive.

**Ch.14 End**

**A bit short I know but I had to get this chapter out since I've been feeling a bit rusty. Anyway, next chapter will have the fights and it should come out sooner than this one did.**


	15. Predator vs Prey!

**Naruto: Making of a Hokage**

**_Kazekage Arc_**

**Ch.15 Predator vs. Prey!**

"What is this?" Temari muttered in disbelief.

She found herself in a really odd situation, as if straight out of a nightmare. Before her and Kankuro stood an exact copy of herself, holding the same iron fan she used while giving them a smirk.

"Some type of genjutsu?" Kankuro guessed though it was highly unlikely. As far as he knew, there hadn't been any change in his chakra system but, just to make sure, he disrupted his flow of chakra but the Temari doppelganger still stood in place.

The fake regarded them with a calculating gaze, quiet, before kicking off the tree branch she stood on and shooting upwards. Temari and Kankuro watched as she ascended high in the air before opening her fan and stretching her right arm back, ready to swing. The Sand Siblings didn't think twice and quickly leapt away from the area while the fake narrowed her eyes and swung the fan, creating a powerful gust of air that struck the many trees in the area, breaking apart a few branches and kicking up a large cloud of debris.

Back on the ground, Kankuro shielded his eyes from the debris, teeth gritting together. "We've got to get out of this quick, the others probably need our help," he gazed at his sister, who stood a few feet from him, back pressed against a tree and eyes narrowed in thought.

"Just stick with our usual combination," Temari instructed while taking out a couple of fans. "That thing might look like me but it won't know what hit it."

With that, the Sand kunoichi broke into a full-out sprint towards the nearest tree, running up it and finally, with a powerful leap, taking air. Her eyes scanned the area upon finding herself above the dense swamp and didn't have to wait long to spot the fake, standing on top of a tall tree with her fan ready to use. However, not one to wait for an attack, she flung one of the fans at the fake, who swung the large fan she carried in order to create another powerful gust of air that hurled the incoming fans away without problem.

Temari, having expected this, quickly moved from tree to tree and, once finding good footing, swung her remaining fan to create a powerful gust of her own that, upon growing closer to the opposing force of wind, clashed against the other and merged into a vicious twister that uprooted the trees it passed by. The Sand kunoichi took the opportunity to continue moving from tree to tree until she finally stopped and outstretched her left arm to catch her still airborne fan and quickly spinning in place, using the momentum to swing both fans to create a powerful gust of air that was aimed at the fake.

It didn't have the chance to see what hit it as the gust of air knocked her back with such force that she couldn't so much as move. The fake was left sailing through the air and watched with wide eyes as she neared the powerful twister that was still raging.

"Hope that's that," Temari muttered to herself, sounding a bit hopeful. She let out a breath as the fake was tossed around like a rag doll until the wind finally let up and she helplessly fell towards the unforgiving ground.

But without the wind keeping her from moving anymore, the fake flipped in the air and managed to land on the ground in a kneeling position. Her clothes were left in tatters, her body was full of cuts and her hair was no longer held up in ponytails, instead reaching a little past her shoulders and swaying slightly.

Enraged, the fake slapped both hands together but before she could begin the jutsu, the ground beneath her feet gave out and the large open mouth of a puppet emerged from it. The fake didn't have time to react as the puppet swallowed her whole.

"I put a lot of time into my puppets..." Kankuro complained, emerging from the nearby trees. His expression pained as he looked to the side and closed his eyes, "Sorry about this."

The puppet rumbled slightly as it retracted back into the ground and, once its head disappeared into it, the ground shot up as a thunderous explosion echoed through the area.

"Let's get going!" Temari yelled over the powerful winds the explosion had created. She approached her brother and gave him a firm nod before moving away from the area.

Now that the fake was taken care of, she had to get back to where her brother was probably being held. Worry set in as she increased her pace.

"Please be okay, Gaara."

* * *

><p>Explosions rocked the area as Ino and Shikamaru sped through the heavily vegetated swamp, the dense water beneath their feet splashing with each step. The two held worried gazes as a sudden sizzling sound was picked up by their sharp ears. Expressions turning into ones of slight panic, the two quickly jumped away as a beam of red chakra exploded against the spot where they had just been, the water splashing about as they noticed the red eyes getting closer.<p>

"Does this thing not run out of energy?" Ino exclaimed as, once again, she and Shikamaru dodged another beam of red chakra.

The lazy genius gritted his teeth, wondering for a second if it really did have unlimited energy but dismissing the thought almost instantly. He had to be optimistic. That thing _had _to rest at some point and when that time came they would need to attack it with everything they got and hope to kill it.

He was snapped out of his thoughts as a beam of red chakra passed right between them and exploded against the area in front of them, making them stop dead on their tracks in order to avoid being caught in the explosion.

"Any idea?" Shikamaru muttered with a bitter grin, watching as the large sea-serpent sped towards them, knocking away the trees on its path with relative ease.

Ino almost laughed at the question. "You're the one who's supposed to have all the ideas," she finished with a scoff, "Next time someone call you a genius, I'm kicking your ass."

The sea-serpent came to a stop once close enough, its red eyes glaring at the two ninja as chakra gathered on its jawed snout. It swirled in place as it took the form of a compressed ball until, with a howl, it released the attack in the form of a red flame-like beam that tore through the air.

"I've had enough of this!" Ino declared angrily as she jumped away from the attack and running through hand signs at the same time. "Summoning Jutsu!" Both her hands pointed downwards as a giant cloud of smoke formed beneath her.

Shikamaru watched the process from a safe place, two large brown wings emerging from the smoke, flapping and blowing away the smoke as it flew in place with Ino standing on its back. Something about that entrance struck him as unnecessarily cool but he dismissed the thought upon watching the eagle beginning to move.

It took higher into the air with a single flap of its wings until coming to a halt once putting good distance between it and the sea-serpent. "Go! Create an opening!" Ino ordered before jumping off of the eagle just as it swooped down towards its foe while the kunoichi began to run through hand signs.

The sea-serpent growled as it watched the large eagle moving its way and prepared another compressed ball of chakra, not paying attention to the kunoichi dropping down from the sky, far too focused on the larger threat. Its attack was unleashed upon letting out a loud roar, shooting straight at the incoming summon.

The eagle, being one of the most agile summons, twirled in the air to avoid the attack with ease.

"Water Style: Water Dragon Jutsu!" Ino exclaimed her command upon landing on the area in front of the sea-serpent, forming a large dragon made up of the dense swamp water that instantly shot towards its target at a fast speed, making the beat growl and charge up another attack.

"Gotcha," Ino smirked, having succeeded in turning the sea-serpents attention away from her summon.

Just as the sea-serpent finished charging up its attack, the large eagle kept on diving with no intention to stop and crashed into its back, disappearing on impact and causing the water to shoot everywhere as Ino's jutsu disappeared into it, making contact with the beast and kicking up even more water.

Shikamaru fought the urge to grin. Ino had come up with a good plan though, watching her displeased expression as the swamp water soaked her from head to toes, it looked like she hadn't thought it through to the end. "Even when she comes up with something brilliant..." he trailed off in amusement.

For a moment he thought that everything was over but cursed under his breath as the water shot up once more, "Dammit."

The sea-serpent rose once more, red eyes glaring at Ino as its red scaled seemed to glisten with the sun.

The beast let out an earsplitting roar as the water around it formed into many whirlpools before they began to raise, much to the shock of the two Konoha shinobi. They continued to raise for several feet until they were taller than the sea-serpent itself, circling around it as its eyes continued to glare at the kunoichi that had hurt it. Ino frowned in return and dropped into a fighting stance.

"Damn this thing..." Shikamaru muttered bitterly.

* * *

><p>"You look pretty confident," Deidara spoke with an amused smirk on his face.<p>

They stood off.

Jinchuuriki and Akatsuki, faced each other in front of a large cave in a heavily vegetated area. Naruto and Fu held completely opposite expressions, Naruto's serious while Fu looked at them with an exited smirk.

"You don't look that tough, sissy-boy," Fu said in amusement.

Deidara clenched his fists in anger, eyes narrowing on the kunoichi. "I'm going to make you pay for saying that," he dug a hand into one of the pouches he carried, not taking his eyes off the mint-haired girl, "I'll make you regret ever opening your mouth."

Naruto paid no attention to the exchange, being far too focused at the moment to do so. He knew for a fact that he couldn't fight the Akatsuki normally. Instead of testing out what they could do, he would go all out from the start. Jiraiya had warned him, saying that they probably knew dangerous jutsu that could take him out by making contact. That's why he had to end the fight as fast as he could. He could feel the chakra circulating through his system, about to burst out in the form of attacks as his anticipation grew by the second.

"Fu, I'll leave him to you then," he muttered without taking his eyes off of Mayu, "I'll come back to help if I end it quickly." With that, he dropped into a fighting stance as wind enveloped his blade.

Mayu narrowed her eyes on the blond, now glad to be taken so lightly, "A bit overconfident, aren't you?"

"It's not confidence if it's a sure thing," Naruto replied as he focused his eyes and wind picked up around his body, covering every part of him. His clothes and hair swayed wildly with the wind as his eyes hardened on the enemy.

The Akatsuki member rose a brow at the odd display of wind before, in a single instant, he disappeared from sight. She didn't have time to wonder where he went as she was forced to duck under a sudden swipe of a blade followed by a kick to her abdomen that she easily blocked by bringing her scythe's staff between the foot and her.

_'He's fast!'_

Naruto cursed under his breath as Mayu retaliated with an elbow at his exposed torso but, having trained in close combat for years, he stopped the strike with his left hand while bringing his katana down on the exposed form of Mayu. His strike dug into the Akatsuki member but, taking him by surprise, her body disappeared in a cloud of smoke.

"A clone?"

"Not bad brat," he heard Mayu speak and instantly turned on his heels to see her standing inside the cave, "You bested my shadow clone... Not an easy feat."

Wind once again engulfed Naruto as he bent his knees and held his katana to his side, telling himself not to get worked up. Things were still manageable and he already had a clear idea of what she could do, his last encounter with him being quite helpful. He gripped the handle of his blade tighter, readying himself for another attack but gasped when he noticed the unconscious Gaara laying on the ground behind Mayu.

"He's not dead yet," Mayu spoke up, having noticed Naruto's worried glance. "At least, not yet. We have to kill him, your little girlfriend and, finally, you of course. And let me tell you this... there's is no chance of you leaving this place alive."

Naruto scoffed before, with a single push off the ground, closing the distance between himself and Mayu, taking her by surprise. Now with an opening, he swung his blade down on the exposed enemy, attempting a vertical slice but stopping himself midway, just as she raised her scythe to block, and used his other hand to deliver a left hook to the side of her face.

Mayu's face snapped to the side, blood filling her line of vision, as she was knocked back several feet in a few seconds. She grunted in pain as she sailed through the air but before she could do much else, Naruto appeared above her and punched at her stomach, making her cough up blood as the force of the blow knocked her to the ground, the impact kicking up a few rocks.

"Wind Style: Slicing Winds!" Naruto yelled out after delivering his attacks and landing on the cave's wall.

Blades of wind shot at the wounded enemy but she quickly rose to her feet and used her scythe to block each blade and absorb its chakra, making Naruto grit his teeth.

"Dammit, I didn't think she'd be able to absorb those," he cursed as Mayu swung her scythe, creating a large yellow wave of chakra that tore through the ground. But, with years to prepare for something like this, Naruto used his katana to stop the attack on its tracks and absorb its chakra.

"Taking tips from the family, huh?" Mayu smirked, earning a heated glare from the blond. "I couldn't help but notice how much more of an Uzumaki you are now. I'm sure that you were the one that took down the barrier and, on top of that, you carry that katana... Just seeing it brings back memories," she relaxed her stance slightly, holding her scythe with one hand and using the other to wipe the blood running down her stinging right cheer. "I haven't seen it since the Chunin Trial."

"You're supposed to take a few things and fight your way out. How much you take depends on how hard it will be to get out," Naruto added with a ghost of a smile, "I didn't get that part until I took everything from the room."

Mayu shook her head, bringing a hand to the bloodied stomach area of her cloak. "Enough reminiscing," she took the scythe with both hands and added chakra, making it glow brightly and transform into two separate katanas with red blades and black handles, "Now I know about your little trick... Using wind to enhance your movements while making your strikes cut everything they land on, not bad. But I know for a fact that using this 'Wind Shroud' its taking its toll on your chakra reserves and it won't be long until you're left a panting mess."

"We'll see about that," Naruto replied with a determined smirk.

* * *

><p>"This is getting annoying," Fu complained as she flew through the swamp with a deep frown on her face. Explosions went off in the area just behind her as several birds made up of clay emerged from the dark smoke that had built up in the area. "Fight me face to face already!" She gritted her teeth and flew upwards before turning mid-flight and putting a hand to her lips.<p>

The jinchuuriki released a heavy cloud of bright powder that lit up brightly and set off the many explosives that flew into it, giving Fu enough breathing room to locate the Akatsuki member. He had begun his attack by setting several bird made up of clay and hadn't stopped which meant that he had to be somewhere where he could see everything. With that in mind, Fu turned her attention upwards and, just as a cloud covered the sun, she noticed a large bird made of clay hovering high in the air.

"Found you," she smirked as she shot towards him at a high speed, her wings almost invisible as they furiously flapped to increase her speed. Her eyes set on the Akatsuki member that smirked before jumping off the bird and having it fly straight at her. "Dammit," she stopped for a moment, her winds flapping to keep her hovering in place, before she quickly stopped the flow of vile chakra keeping the winds in place. This resulted in her wings disappearing and her falling rapidly just as the bird passed right by where she had just been. A smirk formed on her face before she quickly took out a kunai and flicked it at the explosive, successfully setting it off upon impact.

With that out of the way, she formed her wings once again and quickly shot after Deidara, who had used the time to create another large bird to keep himself from falling. "Stop running away already!" Clearly irritated, she glared at the enemy, "If there's once thing I hate, it's cowards!"

Deidara scoffed, "Just shut up already, yeah? I've never met someone as annoying as you." He reached into his pouch of clay as a smirk formed on his face, "Here's a little something to shut you up!"

Hundreds of clay birds shot at Fu, who gritted her teeth before flying away. The many explosives followed after her, all in formation as Fu maneuvered through the sky but couldn't shake them. Not wanting to keep on an endless game of cat and mouse, Fu turned towards the incoming explosives and quickly ran through hand signs before putting a hand around her mouth, "Wind Style: Twister Shot!"

A large twister formed in front of the jinchuuriki, spinning rapidly as it shot towards the incoming birds and catching them all without much trouble. Explosions began to set off inside of the large twister that had turned into something more akin to a wind inferno. With one final powerful explosion, the wind seized, leaving behind a powerful gust of air that spread through the area.

"That was great," Deidara acknowledged as he dug a hand into his pouch once more, "Let's if we can create a better piece of art."

Fu crossed her arms while hovering in place, a pleased look on her face. "Looks like you haven't noticed but, unlike you, I can see in these kinds of conditions," she explained, making Deidara look at her with a bit of confusion which turned to slight shock when noticing the large cloud of black smoke rising between them.

He looked down to see that the many explosions and harsh winds had caused a few trees to catch on fire. "Dammit, of all times not to pay attention..." he growled, already knowing that the jinchuuriki would use the smoke to hide and then attack. It would be more difficult, yes, but it was still manageable, "I have to stop playing around and capture her already."

* * *

><p>'<em>Something's burning?' <em>Shikamaru picked up the smell with his nose as a puzzled look washed over him. Whatever was going on was definitely not good. He had to hurry and take care of the sea-serpent with Ino, or the others would be in big trouble.

He frowned as he finished tying ninja wire to a thick tree, making sure it was well placed before taking a few steps back to admire his work. The area between a set of trees was full of ninja wire with dozens of exploding tags attached. Now he just needed to get Ino in on his plan and hope that the sea-serpent wouldn't use the odd whirlpools to avoid his trap.

Finished with the task, Shikamaru ran up the nearest tree in order to find where his teammate had gone. It didn't take long to spot the large towers of spinning water in the distance that told him where the sea-serpent was.

"Hang on Ino," he muttered to himself before rushing towards the large towers of water.

* * *

><p>Ino gritted her teeth as she watched her last attack land on the sea-serpents large head and, despite the harsh looking impact, it had no effect. The sea-serpent was still standing and moving closer to Ino, stopping once it deemed it close enough and letting out an intimidating growl.<p>

"Why have I been stuck fighting these things lately?" Ino complained before planting both feet on the ground and using a single hand seal. "Let's see how you handle this one," her eyes closed as she focused on the attack while at the same time, the sea-serpent readied a ball of compressed chakra. Her heart beat faster when hearing the ball of chakra take form, she had to hurry. The sea-serpent opened its mouth to unleash the attack but, at the same time, Ino's eyes snapped open.

"I did it…" Ino smiled in relief as the sea-serpents attack died down along with the tall whirlpools and the beast itself stood in place, moving so slowly that it appeared not to be moving at all. She panted slightly as she kept the attack in place, both hands extended and eyes closed in concentration.

She had worked hard to develop this technique that not even her father knew about. By using her clan's teachings, her medical training and water chakra knowledge, she had come up with this technique that didn't even have a name yet. This technique was more akin of a genjutsu since it relied heavily on brain activity. It would slow down all signals to the brain, save for subconscious ones which she was working on as well, to a point where they were barely there at all.

A single movement could take up to a few hours theoretically since she still couldn't hold the technique in place for more than a minute and it took every bit of her concentration to manage that.

"What'd you do?"

Ino opened an eye after hearing the sudden voice and spotted Shikamaru standing near her while eyeing the sea-serpent oddly. She grunted in response before dropping her hold on the beast that, upon regaining movement, opened its mouth wide, expecting to unleash its attack, but not doing so. It let out a snarl before preparing for another attack.

"No time to explain," Ino spoke in alarm, "Just tell me that you have a plan."

"I do," he answered as the two jumped away from the area just as a beam of chakra exploded where they had just stood. A cloud of dust settled in the area, giving the two enough time to speak without the risk of an attack, "It's skin is too rough for normal attacks to work which means that we'll have to lure it to where I set up my traps."

"Where did you set them up?"

Shikamaru pointed forward, "That way, not too far from here. It shouldn't be too hard, right?"

Ino frowned in response, "I hope not."

* * *

><p>"Wind Style: Devastation!"<p>

A powerful wind shot through the cave, moving towards a calm Mayu that held up once of her left blade to absorb the attack. She then swung the other, creating a powerful wave of chakra that shot towards her blond opponent but, much like her, he raised his own blade to take the blow and absorb its chakra.

Naruto cast a look at his katana, an impassive look on his face before he frowned. Wind surrounded his form, making his hair sway wildly, eyes narrowed on the enemy before shooting towards her and breaking the distance between them within seconds. He quickly threw a jab at her face but, now with an understanding of his speed, she ducked under the strike and swung one of her blades at his exposed torso.

Mayu almost grinned as her lade got closer to the jinchuuriki but was caught off guard when her blade was knocked back by the wind encircling him. Her blade absorbed a good amount of chakra but, knowing that she was exposed, she quickly leapt away just as Naruto slashed at her with his blade only to miss.

"That technique of his is using a lot more chakra than I thought..." Mayu muttered to herself as she carelessly swung her right blade, releasing a powerful wave of chakra aimed at Naruto. She kept focused as Naruto blocked the attack with his katana before it disappeared altogether into the blade.

Millions of thoughts raised through her mind as she witnessed this once again. She knew for a fact that he was making her attack him in order to absorb the attacks but what she didn't know was how much it could absorb or what it used the chakra for. Her attacks might as well be what's helping him keep the wind shroud in place or it could be something entirely different.

Bottom line, he was a lot more complex than last time. His strategy gave no indication of what he was planning and his tremendous speed didn't help. She would need to go all out since she was sure that if she didn't then he would end up killing her.

Mayu gripped her blades tightly as they turned a deep red color before purple sparks began to emit from them. She bent her knees slightly and held both blades to either of her sides, ready to attack.

* * *

><p><em>"This is it," Red Death announced, his eyes glimmering with amusement at Naruto's pained expression. He held up his scythe, the blade now a crimson red with small purple sparks chirping around it, "I'll show you one of my original attacks."<em>

_Naruto gritted his teeth as he gathered his chakra, ignoring the agonizing pain on his stomach. Extending his right hand he started to make a Rasengan with all of his remaining chakra. The usual spinning blue ball appeared on his hand before being enveloped by the Kyuubi's red chakra, making it larger and giving it a deep purple color. The Rasengan shook violently on his hand, power radiating from it with a light whistling sound._

_The two glared at each other before breaking into a run, their attacks coursing with power. Naruto's hand wavered under the strain but refused to back down, his eyes locked on Red Death, this was his target and he would win. The blade of Red Death's scythe cracked under the power flowing through it but he couldn't care less, he would start his revenge with this Konoha shinobi._

_"Rasengan!"_

_"Gouraiken!"_

_The two attacks met in a powerful collision. Sand was violently blown away by the collision, powerful winds filled the area and a small cater was formed from the two forces pushing against each other._

* * *

><p>'<em>Finally,' <em>Naruto clenched his jaw. This was the opening he had been waiting for. He remembered the attack well and knew that, much like his Rasengan, needed to be executed at close range.

The Akatsuki member's blade vibrated with power as she shot towards the blond as fast as she could while Naruto held his katana with both hands and raised it above his head. Blue chakra began to seep out of the blade, making Mayu curse and attempt to change direction but she was moving far too quickly to do so without tripping on her own feet. She was left with no choice but to jump high in the air in order to avoid whatever Naruto was planning.

"Take this!" Naruto yelled as wind enveloped him once again and he kicked off the ground, quickly appearing before Mayu and swinging his blade, releasing all of the stored chakra in a single attack that engulfed the Akatsuki member.

The cave shone brightly as the attack struck the ground in a powerful explosion due to the amount of chakra used. Naruto had to shield his eyes from the display as he landed on the ground. The attack could have easily killed anybody unfortunate enough to face it but he knew better than to let his guard down. So, once the attack died down, he uncovered his eyes to be met by a large cloud of smoke.

"Wind Style: Devastation!" He exclaimed as he let out a powerful gust of air that cleared the area which was now mostly boulders piled on top of each other. His eyes widened at that, he had almost gotten squashed for taking his eyes off the area. He had first assumed that the roaring sound had been the attack's impact but it looked like he had caused part of the cave to cave in.

He made a mental note to be more aware of his surroundings before taking a few steps forward. "Where did she go?" Naruto muttered to himself as he scanned the area. Mayu, back when she still called herself Red Death, had many seals around her body during their last fight. He was sure that this was the case once again and, because of that, he was sure that the attack hadn't killed her. Maybe it left her wounded but he didn't know to what extent.

Feeling a bit impatient, he took another step forward just as some of the boulders were pushed aside with great force, making them crash against the cave's walls, as Mayu emerged from the rubble. Her Akatsuki robe was burned in several places and revealed black formfitting armor that was probably filled with all sorts of seals.

"I never saw that coming," Mayu admitted as she dusted what remained of her heavily burned cloak. "That katana of yours… I was sure it absorbed my attacks to give you a reusable amount of chakra for the Wind Shroud, but now I know better," she smirked as her fists clenched, her blades nowhere to be seen, "It must've taken hours to get it to absorb chakra and unleash it on command. I thought I was the only one who could do that and got overconfident."

Naruto kept his mouth shut, trying not to let out any pants before grinning slightly. "You sure talk a lot for someone who's supposed to capture me without a second thought," he spoke with a weary look on his face, "Are you trying to stall in order to think of a way to fight me?"

"It's quite the contrary. _You're _the one that is trying to stall since you're clearly tired and are probably hoping to catch a second breath," Mayu answered calmly, "But don't think that I'll let you."

"Who says I need a second breath?" Naruto responded while remaining in the same position, arms dropped to his sides and feet a few inches apart. "What if I wasn't as tired as I looked? Deception is a ninja's best tool after all."

"A simple bluff," the Akatsuki member growled, getting irritated with the blond.

Naruto chuckled slightly in response, eyes closing as he let out a breath. "It wasn't," he responded as his eyes opened to stare into Mayu's, making her raise an eyebrow.

A new bloodline? No, she knew for a fact that the Uzumaki had no bloodline. She had no idea of who his father was but knew that having a bloodline was still impossible since she would've surely heard of it. Eyes with yellow irises, bar-like pupils, and dark orange pigmentation around the eyes; was too distinctive to not be spoken of.

"Get ready Mayu," Naruto spoke in grim determination as his yellow eyes glared into hers. He held his katana to his side as its blade lengthened with wind, "I plan to end this now."

**Ch.15 End**

**Alright, just to make thing perfectly clear. Yes, Naruto used Sage Mode. Don't worry though, I'll give a bit of insight next chapter. **

**And no, Naruto will not be overpowered since it would make his fights a pain to write. I gave him Sage Mode because it'd be weird for Jiraiya not to teach to him since instead of focusing on the Kyuubi like in canon, they got to train on everything else for the full 3 years.**

**Anyway that's all for now. Please leave any questions if you have any, just in case I didn't explain myself right.**


	16. The Power of Sage Mode

**Naruto: Making of a Hokage**_  
><em>

**_Kazekage Arc_**

**Ch.16 The Power of Sage Mode**

_A younger Naruto landed hard on the ground, letting out a cough as his back hit the floor. He let out a series of pants as he spreads his legs and arms, closing his eyes as his whole body ached in pain; most likely because of the bands Jiraiya had made him wear on his wrists and ankles. Going up against a sage was bad enough, but doing so while wearing bands branded with seals to increase their weight drastically was too much for him._

"_Are you done already brat?" _

_Naruto growled after hearing his master's voice, not having to see him to know that he had a taunting smirk on his face._

"_Dammit, Jiraiya-sensei! It's not fair that you're using that weird transformation of yours!"_

_Jiraiya's smirk widened as he crossed his arms while Fukasaku and Shima looked at the boy sheepishly. "Stop whining Naruto. You wanted to get stronger, right? Well, if you fight against me in my strongest form then you're progress will be that much better," he explained and, seeing as his student refused to meet his gaze, decided to annoy him, "You know that you'd be standing right now if you weren't so stubborn on using the fox's chakra, right?"_

_Naruto sat up, grunting slightly as he did so but managing to glare at the older man. "I told you that there's no way that I'm using it ever again," he gritted his teeth as he pushed himself off the ground and finally stood on shaky legs. "There's no way I need it's chakra when I've still got a bit of mine."_

"_Let's keep going Jiraiya-sensei," Naruto dropped into a fighting stance, sweat trailing down his face as he panted, "I'm not done yet."_

_Jiraiya had grinned at the display and it wasn't until that night that Naruto had an idea of what was going on through his master's head. _

_That was the day in which Jiraiya had turned over his training to Fukasaku, having told him that he was ready to learn Sage Mode. _

* * *

><p>"End this now, huh?" Mayu repeated with a glare. "You're getting a bit overconfident. Don't think that whatever technique you're using is going to give you an advantage over me."<p>

"Enough talking," Naruto frowned as he tightened the grip on his katana, "I have to go help the others and can't afford to waste much time here."

The fight began anew with Naruto swinging his blade and creating a powerful gust of air that pushed Mayu back a couple of steps. She gritted her teeth before quickly jumping high in the air and sticking to the cave's ceiling to avoid any other wind jutsu. Once safe, she ran through hand signs but stopped mid-way as shock showed on her face. Naruto had appeared right before her, his eyes icy cold, as he brought his blade down on her.

Mayu, being a quick thinker, dropped from the ceiling at just the right time to avoid the blade, at least, that's what she thought. Blood stained her face, she followed the spot where it was coming from and, much to her confusion, found that her left side was covered in blood, as was her arm. She let out a growl as she landed safely on the ground just as pain began to set in. Wincing in pain, she racked her brain for any sort of explanation as to what had happened. There was no way that the blade had reached her, she had dodged, she was sure of it. Not even the wind covering the blade had touched her.

"Sage Art: Devastation!"

She was broken out of her thoughts after hearing Naruto's voice. Her eyes quickly found the gust of wind coming her way but, instead of dodging, she opted for preparing an attack of her own. She had already taken the blunt of his other jutsu and figured that this one wouldn't be trouble. Mayu brought a thumb to her mouth and bit on it, drawing blood, before scraping it on her left arm.

Her whole arm shone brightly as she brought her other thumb to her mouth. Naruto's jutsu was upon her now and, having expected it to do nothing more than push her back, Mayu was taken off guard when feeling several blades of wind cut through her arms and legs. She cried out in pain and quickly extended her left hand out in front of her, creating a bright blue wall of light that kept any more of the wind from getting to her.

"I underestimated him…" she growled when seeing several blades of winds hit against her chakra shield. It didn't take much longer for Naruto's attack to die down and for Mayu to take down her shield and bring her left thumb to her mouth. She bit down on it before scraping it on her right arm, making it shine brightly as well.

Naruto watched Mayu's glowing arms with a careful eye. He noticed that her left arm had a really light bluish glow while the other didn't. What this meant, he didn't know, but at least it told him that whatever technique she was using, was different in each arm.

With that in mind, Naruto quickly ran through hand signs before extending his two arms. "Sage Art: Twin Dragon Jutsu!"

Mayu found herself gasping in surprise as two dragons made up of wind shot towards her but, not allowing herself to fall for another attack, she rushed forward and jumped over the first dragon that crashed against the ground, creating a small crater and kicking up a cloud of dust. She didn't have time to rest as there was another dragon coming her way and reacted quickly by extending her left arm and taking the attack head on, much to Naruto's puzzlement. He briefly wondered if she would end up getting her hand chopped off but was proven wrong when his attack disappeared into her open palm.

"W-What?!" He let out in surprise as Mayu pointed her right hand at him and fired back the chakra without wasting any time. Naruto could do nothing as the blast of chakra struck him on the stomach, knocking the wind out of him. He sailed through the air before crashing against the cave's walls, his teeth grinding together as he bounced off the wall but regained his composure and landed on the ground with a bit of trouble.

"That was only the beginning Naruto."

Naruto let out a breath as an idea struck him. "That's right… she has no idea," he muttered to himself with a confident grin before sheathing his blade and dropping into a taijutsu stance, "I'll be done with this in no time."

* * *

><p>Deidara growled as he stood atop his large clay bird. Smoke from the burning trees below filled the area and the jinchuuriki had not hesitated in taking advantage of that by using it to hid in. The whole situation was a bit pathetic, he admitted to himself, having trained to counter the Sharingan he hadn't bothered with the idea of doing anything to help him see in these situations.<p>

"Get out here already, yeah?!" He yelled out impatiently, having had enough, "this is getting annoying!"

At that moment, Fu broke out of the smoke, eyes focused as she flew straight at the Akatsuki member who, seeing this as a chance, sent a horde of birds to take her out. The jinchuuriki smirked and let the attacks hit her, making Deidara's eyes widen in realization.

"That was a clone. Where's the real -"

He was cut off as a fist struck the side of his face, knocking him off his bird and making him fall helplessly towards the ground but, not one to be bested so easily, he swung his left, his cloak fluttering furiously as the clay bird he had been using shot up in flames, making Fu gasp out in surprise.

_**BOOM!**_

Fu flew off just as the explosion went off but didn't get away unharmed. Her eyes shot close in pain and parts of her clothes had been burnt into crisps. "I'll have to move faster," she growled to herself before coming to a stop and looking for the Akatsuki members, easily spotting him atop a new clay bird. "This is getting annoying, I'll take him out now."

Green chakra flared around her, creating a few gusts of air as her hair spiked slightly and her eyes turned a darker shade of orange. She didn't usually use so much of her bijuu's chakra but the fight demanded it. It wasn't every day that she had to fight someone that actually had a chance to kill her.

With grim determination, Fu took for the smoke once again. Thanks to her bijuu she could see in the heavy smoke which gave her a considerable advantage when fighting someone in the air. She just needed to focus on a single attack and hope to take him out but she couldn't get the timing right. The Akatsuki member would only leave his bird when she got too close but he would set off the explosive in order to give himself enough time to create another. Long range fighting was also out of the question since it led to a game of cat and mouse between her and the clay birds.

"I'm going to have to improvise…" she told herself bitterly, "I don't like to improvise."

* * *

><p>"Water Style: Water Dragon Jutsu!"<p>

A large torrent of water shaped like a dragon, crashed against the large sea-serpent's snout as Ino and Shikamaru ran through the swamp. The kunoichi glanced back to see if her attack had done anything but, once again, found that it didn't even slow it down.

"Just how is it able to stay here for so long?!" She looked at her teammate with a frown, "Isn't this one of Naruto's summons?"

"Who knows?" Shikamaru answered as he kept a steady pace, "There could be something that they're using to keep that thing here for so long and there's no way to know how sea-serpents act, summoning wise."

Ino cast a worried look at the lazy ninja, "Shouldn't we look for whatever it's keeping it here first then?"

"It doesn't really matter now," he answered with a shake of his head, "If there's something keeping it here then it should have a set range and considering how long we've run for, we should have gotten past that range already."

The kunoichi didn't answer, instead she focused on the rumbling that came from the sea-serpent's movements. It was really close and she was sure that they wouldn't be able to outrun it for much longer. She scowled at the thought.

"Please tell me we're close to your trap."

Shikamaru frowned in response. "It's close but-" He stopped midsentence when a beam of chakra shot between them and exploded into the water, knocking them back a couple of feet. The two were submerged in the water before coming out while gasping for air and seeing the sea-serpent rushing towards them.

The Nara grinned bitterly, "Looks like we have to move a bit faster."

Ino glared at the incoming sea-serpent and quickly pushed herself into a standing position on the water. "I'm tired of this thing, let's just deal with it here. You said that whatever is keeping it here is out of range so if we just do enough damage, we'll get rid of it."

"Fine," Shikamaru muttered in a bitter tone. It wasn't that he didn't agree with Ino but, if the trap wasn't used, then he would be the one to deactivate it and clean everything up. Just thinking about that was enough to put him in a bad mood.

* * *

><p>Naruto and Mayu ran at each other at a fast speed. The blond threw a punch that was easily sidestepped but didn't let up and punched at her with his other hand. The Akatsuki member didn't have trouble in ducking under the blow and throwing a jab of her own but Naruto disappeared before it made contact and appeared right behind her. She cursed under her breath and spun while throwing a kick that was easily caught in a tight grip.<p>

"Take this!" Naruto yelled out as he flung Mayu towards the cave's walls. "Sage Art: Drilling Wind Ball!"

An orb made of compressed spinning wind formed on his hand as he pointed it at Mayu, who had stuck to the cave's wall to avoid damage. His eyes narrowed on her before he fired the attack, letting the orb of wind shoot towards Mayu who, before having time to react, gasped in pain as the attack struck her stomach.

"W-What?!" Mayu gasped out as the ball of wind dug into her stomach before it burst into a powerful wind that shot her upwards. A snarl escaped her mouth as she flipped in the air in order to land safely on the ceiling, panting slightly while feeling a throbbing pain on her stomach. She had a feeling that if it weren't for her body armor, the attack could have easily pierced her stomach.

Her teeth grinded together as she charged in at the Leaf ninja, watching as he prepared himself to attack but, seeing this as an opportunity, she smirked and jabbed at him with her right arm. The chakra surrounding the arm shot at the blond who quickly leapt away from it but was taken aback as it followed after him in the form of a giant arm.

He was momentarily reminded of himself using the fox's chakra but he quickly dismissed the thought when seeing another arm made up of blue chakra moving towards him.

"Shadow Clone Jutsu!"

A clone took his place just as the blue arm wrapped around the clone that vanished upon contact. He gave a thoughtful look before running through hand signs and taking aim. "Sage Art: Rapid Liquid Barrage!"

Hundreds of liquid bullets shot out of the blond's mouth and struck the red arm, pushing it back but not slowing it down. The arm, he noticed, absorbed each of the bullets and gained size, much to his relief. This was the opportunity he was waiting for. He knew that he had this fight in the bag.

He landed on the ground and smirked as he unsheathed his katana and, drawing on its stored chakra, swung it at the incoming attacks. The result was a large wave of blue chakra that impacted against the two arms, destroying the blue one but making the red even larger, just as he had hoped.

Mayu gritted her teeth, furious at having her left chakra arm destroyed, and used the remaining arm to try and reach for Naruto who, with a smirk in place, stopped dead on his tracks and let the arm wrap around him.

A feeling of dread coursed through Mayu's chest as she absorbed Naruto's chakra. There was something very wrong with the way he kept the smirk in place even though she had caught him. The feeling intensified when she saw her chakra arm turn a deep shade of green and the tips of the fingers on her right hand slowly turning into stone. Her eyes widened as the same feeling began to course through her whole hand and, without thinking twice, she reached behind her back and pulled out a small blade.

Her eyes hardened as she ran the blade through her wrist, taking Naruto by surprise as he watched her hand, turned to stone, fall and break into pieces on the ground. It didn't take long for blood to cover the area as Mayu moaned in pain while clutching her arm painfully. She closed her eyes as she reached into her kunai pouch and took out a seal tag.

"Dammit!" Naruto yelled out as he sprinted towards Mayu, attempting to keep her from healing the wound that would surely lead to her death. He was in front of her in an instant and, just as he brought his blade down on her, green chakra erupted from the seal and knocked him back several feet.

Clouds of dust kicked up as the whole cave rumbled from the amount of chakra coming out of the seal. Naruto was forced to shield his eyes from all the debris while cursing himself for having been too slow. He had had no idea that she would cut out her hand so, him being surprised by her action was a complete understatement.

The clouds of dust died down to reveal a panting Mayu clutching her arm with a look of agony on her face. Blood stained good part of her midsection but it wasn't pouring out of the wound anymore, in fact, her arm was starting to heal already.

"I'll kill you…" Mayu muttered as the look of agony left her and was replaced by pure uncontrollable rage, "I'll kill you!"

Naruto let out a sigh as he dropped into a taijutsu stance, the orange pigmentation around his eyes disappearingl, a sign of Sage Mode ending. _'Looks like I reached the time limit already… I better not use so many jutsu next time.'_

"Shadow Clone Jutsu!" Hundreds or Naruto clones filled the area while the real stayed perfectly still behind them.

Mayu, being furious, swung her left arm horizontally as it glowed a bright color blue. Her chakra shot out of her arm, creating a large serpent made up of chakra that impacted against the area before the clones. The result was a powerful explosion that took out most of them without any trouble. The Akatsuki member watched her attack's aftermath before swinging her arm vertically this time, creating another serpent that shot above the clones before crashing down on them in a big explosion.

Smoke filled the cave, blocking the two from view, something Mayu was thankful for since she needed to give her arm a rest before it could attack again. This weakness would be counteracted by her other arm but she didn't think that it could handle the strain.

"Sage Art: Devastation!"

Now knowing better, Mayu jumped high in the air and stuck to the cave's sealing and watched as the gust of wind crashed against the cave's walls, her breathing heavy before she let out a gasp.

"Sage Art: Giant Rasengan!"

Two Naruto clones leapt at her with the giant attacks on hand. Mayu quickly dropped from the cave's ceiling as the attacks crashed against it in a powerful impact. She landed on the ground and growled as she looked for the original Naruto before her eyes widened in realization, he was nowhere to be found which meant that the last attack wasn't aimed at her.

She looked up to see the two clones smirking as their attacks collapsed the cave. "Dammit!" Mayu quickly rushed for the exit but was blown back as soon as she got close, courtesy of the real Naruto's wind jutsu.

Naruto kept a frown in place as the cave collapsed, burying Mayu and, hopefully, whatever the Akatsuki had used to try to extract Gaara's bijuu.

"Should I get away from here?"

He glanced back at a clone that, before Naruto had used his attacks, had gotten Gaara out of the cave. It currently carried the unconscious Gaara on its back as Naruto mulled things over.

"Yeah, that sounds good," he nodded, "Go back to the Waterfall Village or drop him off with Temari and Kankuro if you run into them."

The clone gave a firm nod, "You got it boss."

Naruto grinned slightly as he watched the clone go. It was always great to have the clones follow orders without giving him any attitude, he could actually count the times in which he had gotten in a fight with them over the smallest of things.

"Enough of that," Naruto shook his head, to rid himself of those thoughts, and let out a short breath, "Let's see… I could go look for Ino and the others but…" A worried look crossed his face as he finally came to a decision, "No… I've got to help Fu."

He took a step forward but stopped, eyes widening as what remained of the cave was blown into bits, rocks and trees were blown away as a violent wind shot from where the cave had been. Naruto had to block his eyes from the strong wind but managed to make out Mayu standing in the mouth of the cave, red chakra engulfed her whole body and what remained of her Akatsuki cloak fluttered with the violent wind.

"This is me pushed to the very limit," Mayu spoke in an icy voice, her eyes were set on the Leaf ninja as she stomped a foot on the ground.

Dust and rubble kicked up as the area beneath her feet exploded, creating a large crater. "Using this shortens my life span considerably but I will use it to kill you. Screw the Akatsuki and whatever its real goal is! I don't care about any of that. If killing you ruins their plans then so be it. You will die by my hand Naruto!"

Naruto sheathed his blade as his yellow eyes set on the opponent, "Fine, let's end this Mayu. I've wasted enough time with you already."

* * *

><p>Temari kept a worried frown as she and Kankuro sprinted through the swamp. They were on their way back to the large boulder in which they had separated and the sounds of battle echoed through the swamp. That could only mean that they had found whoever had kidnapped Gaara, she only hoped that they had found him safe.<p>

"Don't worry," Kankuro spoke, as if sensing her worry, "I'm sure Gaara's safe. He isn't the Kazekage for nothing, you know?"

Temari looked to the side worriedly before she suddenly stopped dead on her tracks, Kankuro doing the same behind her after hearing an approaching sound. The siblings looked at each other before glancing back ahead to where the sound was coming from. She took hold of her fan's handle, eyes narrowing as the sound grew closer until a rather unexpected figure emerged from the trees.

"Naruto!" Kankuro exclaimed in shock before taking noticed of the person slung over his back, "Gaara!"

Temari's eyes widened as she and Kankuro rushed to the Naruto clone and took Gaara from him before laying him down on a dry piece of land. "What happened?" Temari asked as she looked over her unconscious brother.

"They tried to extract Gaara's bijuu but, from what I can tell, he still has it," the Naruto clone did his best to explain as quickly as possible. "I'm not sure how far they went but Gaara will be fine," he went on before crossing his arms, "I guess I don't need to tell you to get him out of here as quickly as possible, right?"

Temari nodded as she and Kankuro exchanged glanced, her brother giving her a firm nod, "Kankuro, I'll leave Gaara to you."

"As if you needed to tell me that," Kankuro joked as he picked up his brother and gave the Naruto clone a grin, "Get my sister back in one piece, will ya?"

Temari rolled her eyes, "I'm more than capable of taking care of myself idiot."

The Naruto clone smiled at the exchange but quickly went back to business, turning to Temari and giving her a serious look. "We need to go to the others, they might be in trouble."

"Got it," she responded before the Naruto clone led her towards the battle site.

Kankuro watched them go before turning towards where the Waterfall Village was and glancing back at his brother, "You're safe now Gaara."

* * *

><p>"Sage Art: Rapid Liquid Barrage!"<p>

Hundreds of liquid bullets shot at Mayu, whistling through the air before finally making it to their target but, much to the surprise of Naruto, the attacks were absorbed by the chakra gathered around her. The Leaf ninja cursed under his breath and opted for a frontal assault, closing the distance between them in an instant and throwing a punch at the enemy's face.

Mayu easily dodged the strike but let out a grunt of pain when feeling the attack land on her face. Her eyes narrowed in confusion before throwing a punch of her own though Naruto easily ducked under her arm and punched at her stomach, making contact and pushing her back a few feet but, not being done yet, Mayu found her footing and leapt at Naruto with her right leg brought back, ready for a kick.

Naruto caught the kick but let out a yelp of pain when feeling the red chakra burn his hands. He quickly let go and jumped away to put a bit of distance between them, his breathing a bit heavy and hands aching. It didn't take a genius to know where she had come up with such an odd technique, it was obviously a recreation of his past usage of the Kyuubi's chakra. How she came up with something so close to the original he had no idea but, what he did know, was that time was on his side. If it really lowered her life span then she probably couldn't hold the technique for long.

'_That's good,' _he mused with a hint of a smirk, _'I've got two hidden clones gathering natural energy so I can just attack until she goes down.' _Naruto set his eyes on Mayu, his smirk disappearing as he took in her appearance before his eyes widened in realization.

"You did something to the Kyuubi's chakra when you caught me that one time."

"You're quite right," Mayu smirked, "Why would I waste a golden opportunity like that? I mean, a jinchuuriki unconscious right before me, it would have been criminal not to get a reward from it."

Naruto gritted his teeth before running through hand signs, "Sage Art: Devasta-" He stopped midway as he recalled her ability to absorb chakra, gritting his teeth in frustration.

"Is seems you finally realize that none of your jutsu will work against me," she extended her left arm and pointed her hand at him, "You don't realize what big of an advantage it gives me."

Naruto stayed still, waiting for whatever she was planning until she finally shot a lightning-like stream of chakra at him. He was quick to jump over it but was taken by surprise when the attack followed after him without losing speed. The Leaf ninja quickly flipped in the air and placed his katana in front of him, waiting for the attack but, much to his shock, it stopped right before him.

'_Does it have some kind of limit on how far it can go?' _Naruto mused but, just as he leaned a bit closer to the odd attack, Mayu appeared in front of him with a smirk in place. _'Dammit!'_

What followed could only be described as a deadly attack. A large portion of the red chakra shot at Naruto before taking the form of a serpent and wrapping around his whole body. He cried out in pain when feeling the chakra begin to burn his skin and knew that he had to think of something before it did anything worse.

Luckily, Naruto didn't have to wait long as an idea sprung in his mind almost instantly. "Sage Art: Wind Shroud!" Wind gathered around his body, effectively pushing the red chakra away just long enough for him to get away and land on the ground without problem. He then used the gained momentum to push himself off the ground and into an all-out charge towards Mayu's falling form.

Mayu smirked from high in the air and gathered all of the red chakra on her good hand, purple sparks came out of it as she prepared to deliver what was sure to be the final blow, "Gouraiken!"

Naruto gritted his teeth as he too gathered chakra on his right arm. Wind quickly enveloped his whole right arm, spinning ferociously around it and tearing parts of his sleeve off as a blue orb formed on the same arm and joined the wind, giving it a blue glow.

"Sage Art: Wind Drilling Rasengan!"

The two attacks met in a roaring clash that formed several shockwaves through the air. Both ninja pushed against the other, neither of the attacks letting up as the two fell towards the ground. Naruto had to bite back a yelp of pain as he landed on the ground, his legs instantly buckling under the attack's power but he didn't let it stop him. He continued to push against it until his attack finally began to break through, much to Mayu's terror.

Naruto gave a battle cry as his attack finally broke through Mayu's, her arm being engulfed by the attack with a sickening noise before he stopped his attack. For a brief moment, Mayu wondered if he perhaps took mercy on her, but the thought left her as soon as she noticed the orb of chakra on Naruto's left hand.

"Rasengan!"

The attack dug into her stomach, making her let out choked screams as blood splattered out of her mouth before she was sent spiraling away. She ended up crashing against a tree and limply falling on the ground, defeated in a pool of her own blood.

Naruto panted as his Sage Mode wore off, returning his eyes to their original color blue. He wiped away a bit of sweat trailing down his face before walking over to the fallen Mayu, noticing that she was still alive, though barely. She probably only had a few minutes left.

Without a word, he turned his back on her and prepared to walk away but stopped at the sound of her voice.

"W-Wait… Don't go yet." Mayu gasped for breath, letting out a bloodied cough as her eyes began to darken, "You completely bested me... so let me. One Uzumaki to the other, give you a warning... as a reward."

"Warning?" Naruto repeated with a frown, "Are you talking about the Akatsuki?"

She shook her head in response, "No. Stop... them, from organizing." The blond ninja could only look at her in confusion, something she seemed to notice, "You're so dense... Well, you'll find out eventually."

Naruto stayed quiet as Mayu's head dropped to the side, signaling her death. He stayed there, quiet, wondering why she had tried to warn him about something when they were enemies but, most importantly, he tried to understand what it was she meant by _them_.

"Well, I guess I'll find out when the time comes," he gave her body a last look before taking his leave. He took to the trees and made his way to the sounds of battle. Fu needed the help and he was thankful for the clones he had gathering natural energy since he knew that it would be a tough battle.

**Ch.16 End**

**It's been a while since I last wrote and I'm sorry about that. I've been way too busy with classes since three of them decided to have homework in the form of essays which means that I'm sick of writing by the time I have free time. Don't worry though, I really like writing this story so I'll try to have chapters out at a regular pace. **


	17. Coming Together

**Sorry for the long wait, but school and work piled up and I couldn't find the time to write. Anyway, just a quick note to avoid confusion, this chapter starts off with the group of masked ninja from Ch.14.**

* * *

><p><strong>Naruto: Making of a Hokage<strong>

_**Kazekage Arc**_

**Ch.17 Coming Together**

A harsh wind howled through a grassy field. Masked ninja ran through it, rustling the grass as their cloaks fluttered wildly with the wind. One of the ninja, the presumed leader wearing a plain white mask came to a halt, his two followers doing the same after a signal from his raised hand. He hummed quietly and took a step forward.

"Wha-!" He exclaimed just as blood sprayed out of several deep cuts made on his body before it fell lifelessly on the ground.

The two other masked ninja were instantly on the alert, the falcon-masked ninja quickly putting a hand to his partner's shoulder as the world around them changed.

"Genjutsu!" The grey-masked ninja let out in a feminine voice. She took in her surroundings with an audible gasp. Gone was the grassy field, replaced with a small clearing near a tall hill. A growl came from underneath her mask as she quickly got to work, easily finding what she was looking for, "Two different sources of chakra. One of them is off the charts." Her arms dropped to her sides, fingers lingering on the ninja pouches that were on either side of her waist.

The falcon-masked ninja didn't respond but pulled out a katana that was strapped to his wait, its silver blade glistening with the sun's rays as he took a step forward, "We know you're hiding, come out already!"

"Quite a bold one, eh?" A voice spoke up in amusement as a tall figure emerged from the woods surrounding them. His face was covered from view by the tassels of his large straw hat, as was most of his body by a black cloak with red clouds. "Just you're average group of ninja, but they couldn't have gotten here by mistake," he continued as he reached for his hat and took it off, revealing a shark-like face with a smirk in place, "Could they be Anbu? Haven't fought any in a while."

Another figure emerged from the nearby woods, this one not wearing a hat and carrying an emotionless expression on his face. "It's been a long time," he spoke without any hint of emotion, directing his attention to the falcon-masked ninja, "Sasuke."

The falcon-masked ninja gripped his katana tightly, hands shaking as his knuckles whitened. "Itachi..." sparks emitted from his blade as it turned a light blue color, "It won't be like last time."

"You appear to believe yourself equal to me," he spoke calmly.

Sasuke let out a shaky breath, trying to calm himself. "I've been waiting for this moment for years. Facing you with me being more than capable of killing you. There's no way I'll lose myself to emotions now," his voice was calm as he relaxed the hold on his blade. Emotions had been ripped out of him by Root, the organization that had taken him after his fight with Naruto. "I will kill you her and now."

"Then come, Sasuke," Itachi responded, "Show me what you believe to be strength."

* * *

><p>Explosions rocked the area as a thick layer of smoke spread through the usually quiet swamp that Fu knew like the back of her hand. Her eyes were narrowed, focused on the enemy as she moved through the air, hidden by the heavy smoke in the area. It was thanks to her Bijuu that she was able to see under such conditions since it gave her better vision and kept her eyes from being irritated.<p>

She smirked slightly as she came to a halt and ran through hand signs, "Wind Style: Compressed Blast!"

Her wings expanded before flapping at the same time, creating a powerful blast of wind that shot through the air at an incredible speed. It wasn't enough though since, being from the Akatsuki, Deidara had no problem in maneuvering his clay bird out of the way and didn't waste any time in swinging both arms to send a flock of clay birds towards where the attack had come from. The birds disappeared into the smoke before being triggered into dozens of explosions by a bright flash from inside the smoke. He scowled, not fully understanding what was going on but dropped from his bird and had it rush into the large cloud of smoke, all the while taking a large amount of clay into his hands.

He kept an eye on the smoke as he fell through the air, an explosion going off inside the large cloud of smoke as he flipped in the air and created another large clay bird to land on. The attack hadn't killed her, in fact, the possibility of it hitting was low since he had seen her swift agility. Underestimating a jinchuuriki was something he wasn't willing to do despite the way he spoke to them. Not because they were strong but because of the Bijuu sealed within them being able to tear down a whole village with little trouble.

His train of thought was interrupted as he caught movement from inside the cloud of smoke. A shadow seemed to grow bigger until the jinchuuriki emerged from the cloud and flew straight at him at full speed with her hands clutching something on her waist. Not wanting to be blindsided by a sudden attack, Dedidara focused his scope on her arms in an attempt to get a closer look. He raised an eyebrow in confusion, not seeing anything on her hands and switched his sights to her face while still being zoomed in. He noticed her cheeks bulging, much to his confusion since she hadn't used any hand signs.

What happened next completely threw him off guard. A blinding powder shot out of Fu's mouth, making him cry out in pain as his scope caught the thing without any protection. "You bitch!" He clutched his scope in pain, closing his right eye as he let out a series of curses.

_'Now's my chance!' _Fu thought to herself as she flew at the Akatsuki member at full speed, her whole body being in engulfed in green chakra, to the point of having her body outlined in the form of a beast with four tails. She came to a halt once getting close enough and extended both arms, pointing the palms of her hands at the enemy. She gritted her teeth as a ball of black compressed chakra began to take shape between her hands.

The smoke filling the area was blown away as the ball of compressed chakra shot at Deidara in the form of a giant yellow blast that sent shockwaves across the swamp. The attack engulfed the Akatsuki member whole before going off in an explosion so powerful that it's cheer force managed to tear some trees off the ground.

"Got'em," Fu grinned through pants as she descended to the ground, her wings fading away slowly. That last attack had used up most of her chakra, leaving her too exhausted to pull on her Bijuu's chakra without losing control. At least the battle was over despite what Naruto's worry. "I told that idiot that I'd be fine."

She lowered her gaze downwards as she landed safely on the ground. A small chuckle left her lips before it was replaced by an involuntary gasp. Her shadow was being blocked by a bigger one in the shape of a bird. Her eyes widened as she spun on her heels and came face to face with the Akatsuki member, this time standing on top of a dragon-like figure made up of clay that flapped its wings calmly though it created powerful winds.

"H-How?"

Deidara smirked. "I appreciate your attempt at art but..." he trailed off, referring to the explosion from earlier. "It's all about the timing!"

_**BOOOM!**_

Fu was pushed back as a powerful explosion went off before her feet. Her eyes shot up in panic as she quickly flipped in the air, landed on a tree, and kicked off of it just as another explosion obliterated the place where she had just been standing. She gritted her teeth as she broke into an all-out sprint, running away from a string of explosions that seemed endless. How he had the time to plant them all she didn't know, but what she did know was that they were gaining on her. She could even feel the heat coming from the explosions burning the back of her neck.

Her orange eyes darted all over the place, looking for a way out until they finally came to a stop when seeing a large body of water. Without thinking, she quickly dove into it and swam as far as she could, hoping to be protected from the powerful explosions.

Deidara watched everything from the sky, a smirk on his face as he tracked the jinchuuriki's movements. It had come down to the basics, a simple substitution jutsu with a rock clone and he had the fight in the bag, even if her attack could have potentially killed him had he not been careful.

His smirk never left his face as he watched the rest of the explosives he had set up around the area, light up the swamp. It wasn't enough to take care of a jinchuuriki, they all seemed to have ridiculous endurance, but it would be enough to leave her heavily damage and easy to capture.

It was a good thing that he had set up all of those explosives across the swamp just in case their hideout need to be destroyed.

* * *

><p>Lightning cackled loudly as Sasuke broke into an all-out charge against the older Uchiha. His blade emitted sparks violently as he swung it horizontally, letting out a shot of lightning on the stationary enemy who replaced himself with pitch-black crows as the attack hit. Having not expected that, Sasuke stopped dead on his tracks and almost jumped out of his skin when feeling a hand clasp his shoulder. Fear tore through his being, memories of that night flashing through his mind as his brother stood behind him, looking at him with a bored expression.<p>

"You're unbearably slow," Itachi deadpanned as Sasuke broke out of his trance and jumped away, twisting in the air as to land face to face with his brother. "You lack conviction. In your own twisted way you believe yourself to be strong yet you're still hundreds of steps behind me."

An animalistic growl emitted from under Sasuke's mask as he filled his blade with lightning once more, this time adding much more than before. "You've always been an arrogant bastard," he growled as bolts of lightning shot out of his blade, tearing through parts of the ground beneath him with relative ease. "Stay that way... It'll make it easier for me to kill you."

From the sidelines, Kisame watched the two brothers with an amused grin. Because of the brat throwing chakra around like it was nothing, Samehada was getting exited, quivering in anticipation against his back. The Akatsuki member turned his attention away from the two Uchiha, his eyes landing on the final masked ninja that had come with Sasuke.

"You'll make a good distraction," he spoke casually as he grabbed his sword and put it in front of him in a relaxed stance.

The masked ninja said nothing, instead reaching into her ninja pouches and producing two daggers. She dropped into a battle stance and shifted her weight between her feet, ready to pounce at the enemy without a moment's notice.

It only seemed to amuse Kisame even more as he broke into a large smirk, "Ah, you might be some fun after all."

* * *

><p>Fu coughed violently upon resurfacing. Blood trailed down from a gash on her forehead, having been hit by a falling rock, and pain ran through her left arm which had been hurt by a large boulder that sank in the water. It had been by an immense amount of luck that she hadn't ended up with her arm stuck in the boulder since she didn't have enough chakra left to free herself from such a grasp.<p>

Another cough left her body as she swam to the water's edge and pulled herself out of the dirty water, falling limply on the ground and rolling over so that she could lay on her back. "Dammit, who would've thought that the sissy could do so much damage?" Fu groaned in pain as she sat up, mouth forming into a scowl as she let out a breath. "There's no way I'll be able to use this much..." she muttered after having a look at her left arm and finding it to be filled with cuts and a lot of swelling around her elbow.

Her eyes turned to the sky, feeling a bit annoyed at the way her opponent fought. She liked to enjoy a good fight but this guy was not making it fun in the slightest. It was as if he was always one step ahead and, worst of all, he used that knowledge to keep himself a good distance away from her, forcing her to rely on long range attacks. Just thinking about it made her sigh as she got back on her feet and walked to the nearest tree with a light limp.

Using more of her Bijuu's chakra was out of the question now, not to mention that her left arm hurt badly with the slightest of movements, and, to make things even worse, she still had no idea how to fight the guy. _'At least I have enough chakra for tree walking,' _she chuckled bitterly before walking up the tree.

* * *

><p>"There's something up there!"<p>

The Naruto clone pointed at an odd dragon-like figure flapping its wings high in the air. He and Temari were currently running through the swamp and were finally getting close to the battle site after spending much time on the move. The battle site itself was quite close to where they had parted ways with Kankuro but they had to take several detours because of large parts of the swamp being lit up in flames.

"I wonder what king of jutsu caused those explosions earlier, could it have come from him?" Temari wondered out loud, a frown on her face, "Such an attack could even level a village. We have to stop whoever used it or we might end up regretting it later."

"Right," the clone nodded before stopping on its tracks, eyes widening slightly before nodding. Temari looked at the clone in confusion, having stopped a few steps ahead of him due to his sudden halt. The clone turned to look at her as a grim expression crossed its features, "I'll leave whatever is up there to you. Just hold him off for a few minutes, boss is nearby so he gave me another assignment."

The Suna kunoichi nodded despite her confusion, watching as the Naruto clone ran off at a fast speed. With the clone gone, she turned her attention to the sky, eyes landing on the flying figure as a look of anger flashed through her face, thinking that this was the person that had put Gaara's life in danger.

"You'll pay for that," she muttered to herself before running towards the figure.

* * *

><p>Ino gritted her teeth, concentration showing on her face as she flung a pair of kunai at the incoming sea-serpent summon. The two projectiles dug into the beast's underside but they didn't seem to have any effect as it gathered chakra on its snout before firing it off, but she already had the sea-serpent's attacking patterns memorized so dodging the attack came down to a single jump and a twist in the air. Her eyes didn't leave the enemy as she landed on the water, reached into her kunai holster, took out another pair of kunai, and finally kicked off the water in order to avoid being hit by another blast of chakra that exploded where she had just been standing.<p>

The kunoichi landed on a tree and wasted no time in taking out ninja wire and wrapping it over the two kunai. It didn't take long for her to finish and kick off the tree in a powerful leap that put her a good distance above the large summon. She then threw the two kunai at the back of the summon's head with deadly accuracy, succeeding in having the projectiles dig into the beast's rough skin. An accomplished grin formed on her face as she flipped in the air in order to land safely on the water behind the summon, which quickly turned to meet its opponent, gathering chakra on its snout once more before stopping dead on its tracks as a shadow attached to its own.

"Shadow Possession Success..." Shikamaru muttered to himself with a weary grin. He stood on the sidelines, having been ignored by the sea-serpent in favor of attacking Ino. A grunt escaped his lips as he fought to keep the summon from moving, its cheer strength making it a very difficult task, "Hurry up, I don't know how long I can hold this thing."

Ino gave an affirmative nod and quickly sprinted towards the summon and ran up its body, coming to a stop once she made it to its head. She quickly took hold of the ninja wire tied to the kunai she had thrown earlier, and ran down the summon's body in a circular pattern in order to have the wire wrapped around its neck. She came to a stop once making it to the other pair of kunai that were sticking out of the summon's underside and tied the wire around it, making sure to do it as tightly as possible before running away from the summon.

"You can let it go now Shikamaru!" She called out with a grin as the beast regained its movements, its eyes quickly finding the kunoichi as it snarled loudly. "Time to end this..." she muttered to herself before running through hand signs and slamming both hands on the water, "Summoning Jutsu!"

A large cloud of smoke formed beneath Ino's feet before being blown away by a pair of strong brown wings belonging to a large eagle that took for the skies with Ino standing on its back. The sea-serpent watched the large eagle with anger, ignoring Shikamaru once again which he took advantage of. Not wasting any time, he ran up the sea-serpent's back until making it to its head and retrieving the two kunai that were pierced in the back of its head. Now with the two kunai on hand, he jumped high in the air before flinging both projectiles at the eagle, Ino grinned as she caught the two kunai without much problem.

The kunoichi dug into the kunai pouch on her waist and took out a few explosive tags before getting to work and attached them to the ninja wire. She had used all that remained and it left her with a good amount of wire that clung loosely on the summon's neck, meaning that their plan would most likely work. She glanced down at the sea-serpent to see it flailing wildly as Shikamaru landed on its head and used chakra to keep himself from being shaken off. He then ran down the beast's body and retrieved the couple of kunai on the beast's underside. Ino grinned when seeing Shikamaru glance at her, and gave him a nod that signified that everything was ready.

"Here goes nothing..." Shikamaru grumbled as he got off the sea-serpent before running away from it as fast as he could, all the while grasping the two kunai tightly on his hands.

The sea-serpent roared in rage as it gathered chakra on its snout once again, whirlpools creating around it as it took aim at the moving Shikamaru only to struck in the back of the head by a blast of water. It let out a growl as it turned back to see Ino standing on top of her flying summon, her right hand outstretched while her left was on her side, holding on to the two kunai tightly. The sea-serpent snarled just as Ino dropped her hold on the kunai, making the two projectiles shoot at the summon as the ninja wire was being pulled away by the running Shikamaru.

Ino smiled weakly as she held up a hand sign. "It's over..."

The many seals on the ninja wire, wrapped around the summon's neck, detonated in a powerful explosion that engulfed the sea-serpent in a cloud of fire and smoke. Harsh winds picked up as shockwaves rocked the area, making the water shoot up as a heavy cloud of smoke and debris filled the area.

"That turned out to be way too much trouble," Ino let out in a sigh as her summon landed on the ground, uncomfortable by all the smoke as it flapped its wings in an attempt to blow it away. "Don't worry, we won'g be here long," she patted her summon's feathers and looked to her side when hearing noise, seeing Shikamaru walking towards her with a frown on his face.

"Let's get going already. I'm sure you also heard that loud explosion from earlier... Something bad is definitely going on with the others."

Ino gave him a nod as he jumped onto the eagle's back, big enough to give the two enough room to sit stand comfortably. "Let's go," she spoke loudly to the summon, earning a cry as it took air with a simple flap of its wings.

* * *

><p>Naruto sat in a meditation pose on a grassy patch of land, his eyes closed and brows furrowed. This was necessary for this particular technique that he had developed while on training with Jiraiya. It was the ability to communicate with his clones.<p>

This was incredibly useful when gathering information but it came with several restrictions, such as only being able to use it with a single clone, meaning that he had been forced to enter Sage Mode since he dispelled the remaining clone gathering natural energy. He also needed to be perfectly still since the technique required all of his concentration, this meant that he was vulnerable to attacks so using it while in battle was out of the question.

_'She's safe and moving towards the battle site.'_

A relieved smile formed on Naruto's face, _'Good, find a place to hide and gather natural energy. I might need Sage Mode again.' _

With that last command, Naruto rose to his feet and turned towards the battle site, easily visible due to the heavy smoke surrounding it. Whoever Fu had been fighting was strong, stronger that Mayu who had given him trouble. The powerful explosions that had thundered through the swamp not long ago were proof enough of that. If they were to defeat the enemy ninja then they would need all of their strength, but their numbers could probably help them bluff their way out of a fight.

In any other situation he would have fought and taken down the Akatsuki member but he knew for a fact that most of his teammates were damaged from their fights and he didn't want to risk having anyone die, not after he self-assigned the mission. Just thinking about any of them dying because of a bad call he made, was enough to darken his mood. Most of all Ino, his most important person which he wouldn't risk under any circumstances. He knew she could take care of herself but against the Akatsuki it was best to be fully prepared.

With that in mind, he decided on bluffing their way out of a confrontation. "With that in mind..." he muttered to himself while running through hand signs. They needed numbers and that's what he planned on giving, "Summoning Jutsu!"

* * *

><p>Deidara watched over the swamp from high up in the air. His many explosions had caused the fire to spread faster and had also left several craters on the normally vegetated swamp. He had decided to wait for the jinchuuriki to come back up, knowing full well that she would end up trying to attack him once more. There was the chance of her escaping but he could easily locate her with his scope.<p>

He smirked as he waited for the jinchuuriki but rose an eyebrow in confusion when catching sight of another kunoichi standing on top of a large tree, her dirty blond hair swaying with the wind.

"Where'd you come from?" Deidara wondered out loud with a hint of amusement, which only increased when spotting the jinchuuriki standing on top of another tree while holding her left arm in pain. He chuckled lightly before hearing a loud cry coming from behind him. Confused, he turned towards the source of the noise to find a large eagle carrying two ninja on its back, making him scoff in annoyance, "More of you?"

Not long after he spoke, a giant cloud of smoke erupted from the swamp, spreading through the sky as a giant toad came to view. His aquamarine skin tone caught his attention but not as much as the two huge katanas on its back. He scoffed once more when noticing the ninja standing on the toad's head, and not just any ninja, but the one that had been fighting his partner which meant that he had killed her.

"Shit... this might be trouble..." Deidara smirked in dark amusement. He knew he was low on clay, having been doing his best to show off his moves on the battle with the jinchuuriki, though it wasn't that alarming it certainly wouldn't do against so much foes.

Naruto watched as the Akatsuki member appeared to think things through, hoping to no end that he would leave since fighting him would be too dangerous. He could always use Sage Mode but he was already worn out from using it earlier and once his time limit was up, he was sure he would be easy picking for the enemy.

That's why he hoped that Gamahiro, the toad he had summoned, was enough to intimidate the Akatsuki member. Gamahiro easily rivaled the size of Gamabunta and, though cocky, he wasn't one for words which made it a better choice than the others since he was sure that, had he summoned Gamabunta, he would end up complaining about being summoned.

"Come on, just leave before they get too close," he growled through gritted teeth, eyes fixed on the next problem. While Fu and Temari couldn't get much closer to the enemy without leaving themselves wide open meant that they wouldn't move, that wasn't the case for Ino and Shikamaru. The eagle carrying them was moving towards the Akatsuki member with no apparent intention to stop.

Deidara weighed his options without the smirk leaving his face until he finally scoffed. "We'll meet again jinchuuriki!" He called out without losing his smirk. "Don't think for a second that you'll leave my sight though," he gave his clay bird a light stomp, making it began to move by flapping its wings rapidly and shooting through the air at a fast speed. Deidara met Fu's eyes as he flew by her, his smirk widening, "We'll be meeting again! And when we do, you won't be so lucky. I'll make you feel the power of my art!"

Ino watched the enemy fly off and was about to urge her summon to catch up to him before the command died in her throat when meeting Naruto's stern gaze. His deep blue eyes seemed to scream at her to let it go and it wasn't until then that she noticed just how tired he looked, probably not being able to do any more fighting. Her shoulders relaxed as she instead commanded her summon to land on the nearest patch of land.

Ino and Shikamaru were back on the ground a few moments later, the summon gone as the kunoichi had dismissed it. The two teammate didn't wait long for the others to arrive, first was Temari who appeared to be a bit upset and then a kunoichi that Ino didn't know. She looked at her oddly before Naruto arrived shortly after the massive toad leapt away from the area.

"H-Hey..." Naruto greeted a bit nervously, having caught wind of the heavy atmosphere between the kunoichi. Ino not as much, as she simply kept glancing at Fu, but the other two were a different story. Temari was visually upset while Fu appeared to be in a bad mood and returned each of Ino's glances with a heated glare. Shikamaru of course, stood to the side with his arms crossed, not appearing to be bothered with the atmosphere or just outright ignoring it.

Fu's eyes seemed to light up once taking sight of Naruto before she stomped her way towards him and jabbed a finger on his chest, "Why didn't you stop that guy from leaving?"

"Him leaving was good," he explained as he took a few steps back, "You're obviously tired as are the others. We've not only been running for a while but are pretty tired, fighting that guy would have ended up with some of us potentially dying." Fu scoffed and turned away from him, still upset about not being able to finish her fight. Naruto let out a weak chuckle before noticing his teammate's curious glances, making him clear his throat and waving a hand towards the mint-haired teen, "This is Fu by the way. She's a kunoichi from the Waterfall Village and helped us out earlier by fighting that flying Akatsuki guy."

Ino looked at Fu oddly before offering a polite smile, "Thanks for the help." She continued to smile as Fu gave her a quick look before snapping her head away with a scoff. The smile was replaced with a frown as Ino's right eye twitched, _'I'll kill this impolite bitch!' _

Naruto's eyes showed panic as he quickly approached Ino and grasped her shoulders gently, knowing full well that she didn't take kindly to being waved off like that. "Calm down Ino, I'll explain everything," he assured in a harsh whisper, inwardly whimpering when noticing that Ino glared at Fu, who returned the gesture just as fiercely.

"All of us could have caught the guy that took Gaara," Temari spoke up with an angry look on her face directed at Naruto, much to his dismay, "You could have stopped him."

Shikamaru kept perfectly still, afraid that it he moved then he would end up like Naruto. Poor guy, standing between a very fierce glare competition that could escalate at any moment while being glared at by Temari... Had it been any other time, he would have probably laughed at the guy's misfortune.

* * *

><p>After having explained everything, from Fu's situation to his reasons for not doing anything to stop Deidara from leaving, the group had made their way back to the Waterfall Village. They're steps were a lot slower due to exhaustion. He was glad that he had gotten Gamahiro to put out the fire as he didn't want to end up doing it himself and lose even more chakra. It seemed a bit selfish but the giant toad could put out the fire with a single attack while it would take him hours to do it.<p>

He let out a yawn and stretched his arms, not worried about accidentally bumping into someone since he was walking at the back of the line.

"Where are you going?"

It wasn't until he heard the voice that he realized that his eyes were close, he opened them slowly and turned his gaze to Fu, who had slowed down in order to walk next to him.

"What do you mean? We're going back to the Waterfall Village."

Fu shook her head, "I mean after that. Are you going back to Konoha?"

He looked at her oddly, not expecting her to break out into conversation after giving everyone the silent treatment for hours. "Yeah, I guess," he answered, "We don't have any other missions and can hopefully rest."

"I see…" she muttered as if deep in thought.

Naruto rose an eyebrow before turning his attention to the group of ninja walking ahead of him. Ino glanced back at him, appearing a bit gloomy. He didn't know what was going through her head but gave her a reassuring smile which seemed to lift her spirits as she returned the gesture before turning back to the road ahead.

"Could I follow you out of this place then?"

"Huh?" He let out dumbly at the sudden question.

Fu frowned at him, her eyes showing nothing but seriousness. "I've had it with this village," she deadpanned with a bit of anger on her voice. "Now that I've met you, another jinchuuriki, I know that there are better things out there. I don't have to keep living this way. I can make my own choices. My destiny is not set in stone like it is here," she smiled to herself, "I can leave this place."

Naruto smiled, "Then we're probably leaving early tomorrow since I'm sure that we'll be spending the night in the village. I'll meet you at the gate at around seven."

"Oh and by the way…" Fu trailed off with a confident smile on her face.

"What is it?" Naruto asked with a bit of curiosity.

Fu's smile never left her face as she looked straight into Naruto's eyes, "I've come up with a great idea."

**Ch.17 End**


	18. Schemers

**Naruto: Making of a Hokage**

_**Kazekage Arc**_

**Ch.18 Schemers**

"That's..." Naruto stammered after hearing Fu's plan.

The mint-haired girl grinned and placed both hands on her hips, "Admit it, you wish you thought of it."

"That's not it," he answered, "I mean, if we were to do this we would get on the bad side of several villages. Besides, they'll find us in a heartbeat since we don't have anywhere to hide."

"'We,' huh? Looks like you're already warming up to the idea."

Naruto sighed, knowing what she was saying wasn't entirely false. It was just that her idea sounded stupid but brilliant at the same time. Someone had surely thought of it before, though not for Fu's reasons, but there were so many obvious obstacles that trying it would be a waste of time.

"Listen Fu," he spoke while rubbing the bridge of his nose, "Gathering all the jinchuuriki in order to form a kind of organization–"

"Lethal force," Fu corrected with a grin.

Naruto rolled his eyes. "Fine, a 'lethal force.' Say _you _manage to find a few jinchuuriki, what then? How do you even plan on keeping the villages from looking for you. Having to be on the run and constantly looking over your back will prevent you and them from leaving peacefully, much less get anything done," he argued with a frown.

"I'm sure there's a place they won't think to look. Somewhere that's hard to get in to while at the same time being a place not completely away from society, just in case we need supplies," Fu replied.

It all clicked as a cold sweat ran down Naruto's spine after hearing her argument. It scared him just how convenient their timing had been. She was looking for a place to hide all the jinchuuriki while at the same time giving them a base of operations… His hands shook with excitement? Fear? Want?

He didn't know which but what he did know was where to find such a place.

"Fu…" he muttered quietly.

She looked at him oddly, "What is it?"

A smile formed on his face as he took a quick glance at the group of ninja walking in front of them. Judging by their surroundings and the massive tree that loomed over them, they were really close to the village. It looked like he and Fu couldn't go over the details until the next day.

"I'll tell you all about it tomorrow, we'll meet here early in the morning," he spoke with an exited grin, stopping on his tracks when noticing that Fu was not walking anymore, probably not wanting to get too close to her village.

"Tell me about what?" Fu asked with a raised eyebrow.

Naruto grinned as he gave her a wave and walked a bit faster, "The ideal place for your plan."

Her eyes widened at the information as an exited smile spread through her face, only to be replaced by a look of anger when seeing the blond walking off with no intention to stop. "So that's what that weird grin was about…" she muttered to herself before throwing her hands in the air and walking off towards the place she called home, "That bastard's not going to let me sleep after saying that."

* * *

><p>Naruto took off his ninja sandals with a sigh of relief, a weight dropping from his shoulders as he stretched his arms over his head, relieved that he wasn't weighed down by his ninja equipment as he was only wearing a plain black t-shirt with his dark blue pants. It had been a really long day and he was glad to be relaxing on a comfy bed for once. Not only that, but the room itself was pretty nice. It had a few pieces of furniture, twin beds and its own shower; giving him the essentials to relax.<p>

Or at least, he wished it did. Sure the bed was comfortable but hearing the shower running was enough to make his heart thump loudly against his chest. Shikamaru and Temari had gone off to find Kankuro and stay with him since the head of the Waterfall Village had given them the proper accommodations because of what happened with the Kazekage, though he had a feeling that the Sand siblings would be spending the night in Gaara's hospital room.

He was broken out of his thoughts when the sound of the shower seized, again making his heart beat at a wild pace. Having spent most of his money on ninja supplies had come back to bite him in the butt since he ended up with a small amount of cash, so small in fact that combining it with Ino's remaining money barely managed to pay for the room. He had of course asked for a room with two beds since he didn't want to insinuate anything and make Ino uncomfortable. That didn't mean he wasn't though.

He almost yelped in surprise when hearing the restroom door creak open and turned to meet Ino, only to gape when taking in Ino's appearance clad in only a towel. A bright blush spread through his face as Ino's face turned a red color.

"W-What are you gaping for? Don't look!" Ino exclaimed while clutching the towel to her body in an attempt to cover herself.

"Sorry!" Naruto yelled before turning away from his girlfriend, all the while blushing madly and trying to fight back indecent thoughts. "Why did you even come out here?"

Ino continued to blush and scurried over to the restroom, closing the door behind her with a slam. "I thought you were leaving!"

"Well, I didn't!" Naruto responded in slight panic, face flushed as the image of Ino's body outlined by that towel refused to leave his mind. He frowned and sat up, clearing his throat as he rose to his feet and approached the restroom door before speaking in a trembling voice, "S-Sorry about that… I uh…"

The door opened, making Naruto take a few steps back as Ino emerged from the restroom wearing a plain white shirt and black shorts, looking at him with a lingering blush on her face. "It's okay…" she trailed off while averting her gaze.

Naruto kept his eyes away from Ino, too embarrassed to look at her directly. Now he wished he had actually gone to eat something instead of waiting for Ino to come out. Things with Ino were a bit more awkward now, probably due to his better understanding of what couples tended to do with time.

"By the way…" Ino began, losing her blush and instead frowning slightly, "Where did you meet that girl?"

"Fu?" He answered, earning a nod. "I met her when I was messing with my katana that one night in the woods," he grinned slightly as he sat himself on his bed, watching as Ino sat on hers while looking at him in curiosity, "I didn't want to say this in front of anyone else but she's actually like me and Gaara. A jinchuuriki."

Ino let out a gasp with an incredulous look on her face, "Are you serious?"

Naruto nodded, "Yeah, I didn't want to say this in front of everyone else since I don't know if Fu wants to keep it from them."

"Then why did you tell me?" Ino couldn't help but ask.

His cheeks reddened slightly as he shyly scratched his right cheek. "Well, you're my… girlfriend," he spoke quietly, a small smile on his face, "I like to tell you about these kinds of things."

"Y-yeah," she replied with a light blush, touched by his words.

Naruto smiled as he rested on his side and let out a yawn, earning a giggle from Ino, "What is it?"

"Tired?" Ino teased with a small smile.

He chuckled and turned away from Ino as to lay comfortably on his back, extending his sore arms and legs. "Today felt way too long…" he trailed off, his face taking a thoughtful expression. "And then, there's what Fu told me before we got here."

"What did she say?" Ino asked, feeling curious at whatever was eating at her boyfriend's mind.

"She wants to gather all the other jinchuuriki and make a sort of group," he paused, taking the time to give Ino a grin after seeing the look of surprise that showed on her face. "I was pretty surprised too but then…" his brows furrowed as a sign of thought as he sat up and moved to the edge of the bed, giving Ino his whole attention, "After the idea sunk in and we talked about it… We somehow found a way to actually have a shot without the other villages intervening."

Ino couldn't help the look of surprise on her face, "And what's this shot of yours?"

* * *

><p>He was on his knees, nails digging at the dirt as blood dripped down his chin. The falcon mask we wore was broken in half, showing his good eye which glared at the ground beneath him. His teeth grit tightly together, an animalistic snarl leaving his lips as frustration set in.<p>

"_Foolish brother."_

Sasuke's vision blurred as he recalled Itachi's voice.

"_It's been some time since we met and you're still walking forward at a snail's pace," Itachi commented calmly, not affected by his brother's burning glare. "Kisame," he turned his attention to his partner, currently standing on the side next to the limp body of the Root member he had fought. "We're leaving."_

_Kisame grinned as he walked over to his partner and gave Sasuke a glance, "We're letting him live?"_

_Itachi's eyes regarded Sasuke without interest as he turned on his heels and began to walk away, "Killing him is nothing but a waste of time. Let's go."_

"Itachi…" He growled as he gripped the ground tighter, knuckles turning white. "I need more power," his ears picked up the sound of rushing footsteps, no doubt the rest of the Root members that had come too late.

Now he knew, as the Root members supported him on their shoulders and dragged him away from the area, he knew that Danzo had hindered him. He was supposed to be stronger, he felt stronger, that is until he met Itachi. He had been swatted aside like a fly, unable to keep up with his brother who seemed stronger every time they met.

So, as the Root members carried him away from the area, one thought lingered on his mind.

Danzo had failed him.

* * *

><p>"It could work but… not without pissing off every village," Ino commented after Naruto had told her all about he and Fu's plan. It was ambitious to say the least, but actually pulling it off would mean becoming the world's enemy.<p>

Naruto looked at the ceiling, still feeling tired after such a long day. "I know that but the Akatsuki, from what Jiraiya-sensei told me, let their existence known on purpose. Which means that if we're quiet enough and make the other jinchuuriki appear to leave by themselves, we have a shot at remaining secret since I don't think anybody is going to check Whirlpool for them," he explained, "There's probably going to be trouble with making them stay cooped up in there but we can come up with a solution for it later. Nearby villages might be a problem but I'm sure they won't talk if we give them protection."

"You've really thought this through, huh?" Ino looked at her boyfriend with a bit of awe, not expecting him to come up with a plausible solution.

He grinned in returned. "It's not a sure thing though. We have to look for the jinchuuriki, gain their trust, tell them about our plan, and then hope that they are okay with it," he turned his attention to Ino, giving her a small smile, "And I'm sure there's going to be some of us that don't want to leave our village."

She looked at him contently before grinning and moving to sit on the edge of her bed. Her grin only grew when she saw that Naruto had closed his eyes, probably deep in thought.

Wanting to surprise Naruto, she quickly rose to her feet and dropped down next to him, making him yelp in surprise as she wrapped an arm around him and rested her head on his chest. "You know… I didn't think that we would be sleeping on different beds tonight," she grinned slightly when feeling Naruto's heart beat wildly on his chest. She had to thank Anko later for all of her tips later.

Naruto didn't know what was going on, well, he did have an idea of what she was implying but he hadn't thought that the time would come so suddenly. It wasn't until now that, glancing down at Ino, he noticed her bare legs, silky and soft against his own. He swallowed a lump as his vision trailed up her body, taking in every curve as his face reddened.

"I thought we'd be doing something different," Ino whispered as she raised her head to meet Naruto's eyes, noticing his reddened cheeks and cheering inwardly. He began to come around and, just as he was about to speak, she pushed herself off the bed and moved to sit on her own, all the while grinning widely as she took in his surprised expression. "That's for not telling me about that girl earlier, now go to sleep."

Naruto could only gape as Ino covered herself with the sheets of her bed and turned away from him. He didn't need to see her face to know that she was grinning like crazy. She always loved to tease him like that, riling him up and then just stopping with that taunting grin of hers.

He grumbled something under his breath before getting out of bed and going over to the restroom, thinking that he would need a really cold shower if he wanted to sleep.

* * *

><p>"Looks like I'm really late," Jiraiya grinned weakly as he walked through what appeared to be an area where a harsh battle had been fought. Trees were left in burnt crisps, craters were scattered through the area and the little vegetation that was left was uprooted.<p>

"They hopefully got out of this one," he muttered to himself before running through hand signs and slamming both hands on the ground. A cloud of smoke erupted from the ground as a middle sized toad appeared before the sage, "I need you to tell the elders to reverse summon Naruto. I'll be leaving with you to Mount Myoboku as well."

"Got it," the toad nodded as he and Jiraiya disappeared in clouds of smoke.

* * *

><p>Naruto was used to waking up to the weirdest of things. From Jiraiya getting slapped by a livid woman to a giant fireball going off only inches away from him. So, when he felt a sudden pull on his body followed by a rush of air he knew that his master had somehow found him. His eyes began to open only to be met by ground as he let out an involuntary gasp before slamming against the ground.<p>

"Nice to see you made it out okay brat," came the voice of his master from behind him. Naruto growled as he pushed himself off the ground and glared at the older man who only smiled in amusement and waved him off, "No need to be so angry, I just wanted to make sure you were okay. That, and I needed you to tell me what happened at the swamp."

Feeling a bit disoriented, Naruto grumbled under his breath while giving the place a quick look around and identifying it as Mount Myoboku, meaning that he had been reverse summoned. "We had a run with the Akatsuki," he answered while rubbing his eyes, not seeing the look of alarm on his master's face, "I managed to kill one but the other one got away. Oh, and… I had to use _it_."

"Don't worry, I expected you to use Sage Mode against the Akatsuki but I just didn't think you would be running into them so soon, what happened?"

Naruto looked down, his eyes narrowing. "It turns out that the reason Gaara was in trouble was because the Akatsuki got to him. They didn't manage to extract his bijuu but I'm sure they were about to before we got there," he crossed his arms, his face taking a thoughtful expression, "Which means that they have a way to locate us better than any sensor ninja could."

"That could be a problem," Jiraiya nodded in agreement before clapping his hands and stretching his arms, "Well, now that I know you're all right I can go back to traveling. If the Akatsuki is on the move then I have to find out as much as I can before the trail gets cold."

"Be careful out there old man," Naruto grinned, earning a sour look from his master after being called old.

The sage scoffed and crossed his arms over his chest, "I may be older but that doesn't mean that I've lost my touch. Not only in combat but with the ladies as well, I bet you're not going to be anywhere near my amount of dates when you're my age."

"I really hope I don't," Naruto replied with a playful smirk.

Jiraiya chuckled before walking up to the blond and ruffling his hair, much to his annoyance. "You be careful too brat and don't do anything stupid."

"Quit talking like we're about to go off to some giant battle," the chunin rolled his eyes, "I'll see you soon."

With that the blond disappeared, leaving a grinning Jiraiya behind. The older man chuckled to himself before leaving the place, knowing that he had to move quickly.

* * *

><p>Kakashi leaned against the wall of a building just far enough to listen to the nearby conversation of two Waterfall ninja. Apparently, the Kazekage had been brought back and, though unconscious, appeared to be in good condition. The team of Konoha ninja that had brought him were in good condition as well since none had to be hospitalized. Kakashi couldn't help but feel proud of his blond student, he was far from the loudmouthed kid that had joined his team.<p>

Beside him, Asuma lit a cigarette before crossing his arms. "Looks like they did it," he inhaled deeply before letting out a bit of smoke, "I don't want to sound old but, those kids are going to blow right past us if we're not careful."

"Speak for yourself, that beard of your already makes you look ten years older that you are," Kakashi replied casually.

Asuma scowled, "Why does everyone say that? Even Kurenai told me to shave a few days ago."

The copy ninja chuckled slightly before pushing himself off the wall. "The Chunin Exam finals are going to be starting soon, let's go."

With that, the two ninja began to make their way to where the Chunin Exams were being held. Now with a load off their shoulders due to their respective students most likely being safe.

* * *

><p>"That will work!" Fu exclaimed loudly, not able to hide her excitement after Naruto told her about the, literally, Hidden Village of Whirlpool. If it had been called a village in the past then it was most likely big enough to be a base of operations and it being protected by savage whirlpools, as Naruto had explained, meant that outsiders wouldn't be able to get in.<p>

"Yeah but we have to keep this quiet though," Naruto answered while giving a quick look at their surroundings. They appeared to be safe from anyone's ears, being in the middle of a clearing with lush green grass and tall trees to keep them from vision but he couldn't be too careful. He was a foreign ninja in foreign territory, it wouldn't be rare to have a native shinobi spying on him.

He reached into his chunin vest and pulled out a scroll. "If we're really attempting this then we'll have to be as organized as possible," he handed her the scroll, "This has what I think we should do before anything else, which is contacting the others and having them agree to come with us."

"What happens after that?"

Naruto frowned, his eyes narrowed in thought, "We find a way to take them with us I guess. I don't know how each village keeps tabs on their respective jinchuuriki. If they have a really tight watch then we'll have no choice but to try to get to them while there's a big distraction."

"I suppose this big distraction you're talking about is the Akatsuki," Fu replied with a serious expression.

"Yeah, but don't worry. If it comes to that then I'm sure that they didn't prepare to fight two jinchuuriki at the same time."

Fu raised a brow at that, "What do you mean by 'two'? Are you not coming?"

He shook his head. "I'm staying in Konoha," he raised a hand just as Fu prepared to argue, "My life is there. I can't leave all of my friends and comrades behind just like that. Sure it took time but I'm happy there."

She sighed in response, "Fine, as long as you're keeping tabs on this then I'll be fine. But I'll need you to be able to come help whenever you're needed."

"Don't worry about it, I promise to come help whenever I can," he pulled out another scroll and handed it to her, "This here contains some seals I made for myself a while ago. You can have them since I can make more later."

Fu looked at the scroll with a curious look, "What do the seals do?"

He smiled, feeling proud of his work. "A bunch of things. One is actually a set of four that can make an area up to twenty meters mask your chakra for about ten hours. Another seal can send objects and even people to one of my toad summons, and another can summon that toad to get it to give you whatever you stored. This is how we'll communicate through letters."

"That's also how I'll be able to come to wherever you are…" his face showed disgust as he went over the last part, "Just summon the toad and give him the message and then… he'll go to wherever I am and… I'll have it take me to you."

Fu watched him in half-amusement, "You're gonna have it swallow you?"

"If it comes to that…" he trailed off, ignoring the kunoichi's sudden burst of laughter. "Well, that's it for now, I'll talk to you later."

Fu continued to laugh as the blond left, probably feeling angry about having to go through such extremes. "We can make this work," she smiled to herself after a moment of silence. She pocketed the two scrolls and turned her back on what used to be her home, the sun was rising in the distance and a cool wind ruffled her hair.

She felt free.

* * *

><p>His eye was glazed over as he laid on the ground, watching the sky gain color. Bandages covered his exposed torso and his katana was at his side, ready to be picked in case of a sudden attack.<p>

Power. The simple wish for it had driven him so far yet, he could never linger on a single spot. Every time he got stronger, someone even stronger appeared before him, putting him down so easily that it made his progress appear to be minuscule.

"You want power?"

His visible eye widened in as he clutched his neck in pain. A low hiss emitted from his lips as he sat up and reached for his blade but was stopped by another wave of pain. He shuddered as the pain grew more intense, making him let out grunts and clutch his neck tightly.

"Kill them."

The pain seized as he turned his attention to the rest of the Root members that were asleep on the ground.

"Kill them all. I'll give you power."

That voice. He hadn't heard it in so long. The voice of the person that had promised him power a few years ago. Orochimaru.

"Kill them. Show your power."

He rose from the ground, picking up his katana and gripping the handle tightly. The sharingan glowed on his eye as he approached the sleeping Root members.

**Ch.18 End**

**To tell you guys the truth, I had more than half of this chapter written about a month ago but work and finals took over my free time so I couldn't really find the time to write until now. Anyway, as you can see this is going to be a kind of turning point in the story because of all the new coming developments. **


	19. Unforgettable

**Naruto: Making of a Hokage**

**Ch.19 Unforgettable **

Tsunade rubbed the bridge of her nose in annoyance, feeling the beginning of a headache building up. She had a lot of things to think about which was normal but the amount of problems and things that needed her attention had grown rapidly. From foreign affairs to local, it was as if things were stirring up to create something big in a matter of time.

Her current attention was on one of the Sound ninja Naruto's team had captured three years ago. Tayuya of the Sound, one of Orochimaru's most important followers. Her information on the bases, objectives and plans of Orochimaru would greatly help the village but she had refused to speak in all those three years. How she managed to keep quiet after being interrogated so many times she didn't know but, for some reason she decided to finally speak but made personal requests to her, the Hokage.

She wanted freedom and the return of her weapons. It didn't appear to be much but Tsunade couldn't agree to the request. All prisoners were marked with a tattoo that gave away which village had imprisoned them, if she were to get out and into some sort of trouble with some other village then it would be blamed on Konoha. With the current tension between the nations she couldn't allow something like that to happen.

What she could do is give her limited freedom. Don't allow her to leave Konoha, limit the time she spent outside, and have someone follow her around at all times to keep her from attempting anything. Maybe it could go on for a year or a few months depending on her behavior but it would raise another problem. She knew for a fact that nobody would enjoy babysitting a former enemy which could turn into some sort of trouble if they couldn't control themselves. She guessed that the best thing to do would be to assign the mission for a month to ninja that had been leaving the village constantly. It would allow them to rest while keeping their senses sharp.

She was pleased with the idea but couldn't help the negativity going through her mind, "Knowing my rotten luck, this will probably cause problems.

* * *

><p>The air reeked of blood as Sasuke's blade fell to the ground. His eye was glazed over as he fell to his knees, stomach churning as he thought back at what he had done.<p>

Killing wasn't something he was unfamiliar with but he had never killed someone so vulnerable. None of his teammates had seen, heard, or even felt him. They were too deep in their sleep and under the assumption that they were safe. The worst part was that he had enjoyed it, it made him feel powerful to just end someone's life so easily.

'_Good… Now come.'_

The Curse Seal burned against his skin, making him wince. "How are you talking to me?"

'_It's not talking… it's hard to explain. Were we to have more time I would explain but there's a group of ninja coming your way.'_

Sasuke quickly rose to his feet, picking up his katana as he looked off in the distance.

'_Follow my directions and you'll find me.'_

He didn't need to be told twice. Sheathing his blade and taking the kunai pouches from his ex-teammates, Sasuke took off. After three years he would be trained by Orochimaru.

* * *

><p>Naruto smiled as he made his way to the Hokage Tower. It had been three days since he had fought the Akatsuki and much more since he had gone to Wave. He was glad to be back home even though he had wanted to stay until Gaara woke up but knew that he couldn't stay away from the village for long. Gaara was fine and should wake up without problems, another problem resolved.<p>

'_Still though, I wonder why Granny wants to see me…' _

His team had arrived to Konoha in the middle of the night, as such they had left a scroll with details on the mission to one of the Hokage's attendants since she was gone for the day. The annoying part of the process was that he had to meet with Tsunade the next morning and go over everything again, sure it didn't seem like a lot of work but he still thought the process was a bit pointless. Couldn't the Hokage just give more power to their assistant and have them do those kinds of things? He dismissed the thought knowing that he wasn't knowledgeable enough to criticize the system.

It wasn't long until Naruto made it to the Hokage's Office, finding Tsunade sitting behind her desk while reading over something. She continued to read for a few moments before looking his way and giving a nod.

"I've read your report… I want to know about the Akatsuki," she went straight to the point.

"Well, I had a feeling that they were responsible for Gaara's disappearance as soon as I heard the news. That's why I moved quickly and found where they had taken him. Kakashi ended up using his ninja hounds to help us," he explained with his arms crossed. "We found them in a cave and made it there before they could extract his Bijuu. I ended up fighting Red Death, now in the Akatsuki, and took her down. The other Akatsuki member, his name is Deidara and he had a slashed Rock headband, ran off since we weren't in shape to fight him."

Tsunade mulled over the events before clearing her throat, speaking in a more professional tone, "You did good Naruto. Not only did you know you were needed and went on a mission before coming home, but you also knew not to be too rash and didn't endanger your teammates' lives."

She rose from her seat and placed a flak jacket on her desk, making Naruto's eyes go wide in disbelief. "Because of your actions the Kazekage was saved, and I grant you the title of Jounin," she handed him the jacket with a grin, amused at his look of shock, "You deserve it Naruto."

"A-Are you really sure?"

"Are you trying to argue against my decision?" Tsunade asked with a raised brow, making Naruto laugh nervously.

"Not at all," he looked down at the jacket with a smile before looking back at Tsunade, "Thank you, I won't let you down."

The Fifth Hokage smiled and sat back down behind her desk, "I know it's sudden but I want you to come by here tomorrow to speak about your new mission. Since you've just come back, I'll be assigning you a mission within the village."

"Understood," Naruto nodded before leaving her office, _'Wait until Ino sees this!'_

* * *

><p>Night fell on Konoha. A cool air washed over the area, starts twinkled in the clear sky, and the moon shone down on the village. It was the perfect night, Naruto couldn't ask more a more perfect opportunity but it still did nothing to ease his nerves.<p>

The trips to Ichiraku didn't count and the last time they had gone somewhere else for a date was over three years ago. Thinking about that made him feel like a lousy boyfriend.

"Here goes nothing…" Naruto muttered to himself as he knocked on the door. He checked over his appearance one last time, black pants and a presentable white long-sleeve shirt. He had even gone to get his hair cut since his bangs would've made him look messy and they got annoying when he didn't wear his headband. Now his hair resembled the style he had three years ago though a bit longer.

He stiffened as the door opened to reveal a grinning Inoichi, "If it isn't Naruto, how've you been?"

"W-What?"

"Come on in," he pulled the confused teen into his home and led him to his living room where Shikaku and Choza sat, both turning their attention to the blond teen.

Shikaku was the first to speak, a teasing grin on his face, "So, I heard that you and Ino have a thing…"

Naruto looked at the man oddly, "Y-Yeah."

Choza chuckled as he pointed at Inoichi, who had sat near his old teammates, "This guy won't stop talking about you. He might act like a hardass but he's probably the first to approve of you guys."

"I-Idiot! Don't make me look like an idiot," Inoichi glared at the Akimichi, who burst out laughing.

Naruto had never felt more uncomfortable in his life. Something about older man gossiping about him freaked him out. Luckily he saw Miki through the corner of his eye, meaning that he was safe.

"Naruto, you're already here," she smiled before glancing back up the stairway just outside the living room, "Ino should be here any moment. Please, seat while you wait for her."

"Thanks you for your hospitality," Naruto smiled politely, though he had hoped she would have told him to wait outside or somewhere away from the three man. He wasn't stupid, he knew they had drank and would be asking him horribly embarrassing questions soon. Jiraiya had done the same on several occasions.

"So Naruto…" Choza began while giving Inoichi a grin. Something about the grin made Naruto freeze, he didn't need to read his mind to know what he would be asking.

"Sorry it took me a bit to get ready," came a voice from behind him.

Naruto had never been more relieved to hear Ino's voice. A smile etched on his face as he rose from his seat and turned to face her. He's body instantly froze as his heartbeat increased, he swallowed a lump as he took in Ino's appearance, dressed in a simple black spaghetti strap dress with a red sash. He didn't know why but he was completely at a loss of words, stunned by the way the dress seemed to bring out every feature in her body.

"Hey, stop staring at my daughter with those eyes!" Inoichi exclaimed with a bit of a slur.

Naruto tore his gaze away from Ino and looked away with a blush, Ino doing the same as the attention was on them.

"You've had enough to drink and are bothering everyone," Miki scolded her husband as she pulled him off the couch and dragged him away, "We're going to bed, let your daughter have fun."

"B-But!"

"We'll get going too, we have more sense than to interrupt a young couple," Shikaku grinned as he and Choza left the Yamanaka's home, leaving Naruto and Ino alone.

Naruto shyly turned his gaze back to Ino and gave her a small smile, a blush on his cheeks, "You look beautiful."

She blushed at the sudden comment before approaching her boyfriend and grasping one of his hands, "And you look really handsome."

He gave her hand a gentle squeeze before leading her out the door, "Come on, let's get going."

* * *

><p>The young couple walked along the village hand in hand, enjoying each other's company. Ino, wanting to be closer, latched onto his arm and rested her head on his shoulder, sighing contently.<p>

"Thank you for a wonderful date," she spoke tenderly, her voice carrying what she felt for him.

Naruto smiled down at her and rested his head against hers, "I promised you back at Tanzaku that we would go somewhere, just the two of us. And as long as I get to be with you, I don't care where we go."

She smiled as she tightened her hold on his arm, a blush suddenly tinting her cheeks, "Do you remember what you told me when you were leaving the village back then?" She felt him tense up, her blush deepening, "Can you say it again?"

Naruto's face was a deep shade of red, "I…" He swallowed, trying to calm his beating heart before speaking, "I love you."

Ino smiled widely, a giggle escaping her lips as she pulled away from his arm only to move in front of him and throwing herself at him, wrapping both arms around him and burying her face on his neck. His arms wrapped around her as he took in every second of the moment.

"I love you too," she responded after a brief silence. She pulled her face away from his neck and stared into his eyes, "So much."

The two kissed under the moonlight, conveying their feelings in the gesture and trying to pull the other closer. Naruto's heart beat wildly against his chest as his hands roamed Ino's curves, though he kept himself from anywhere he shouldn't, the last thing he wanted was to offend her in any way and ruin their great evening. The two broke away from the kiss, Ino resting her chin on his shoulders, her breath tickling his ear.

"Hey Naruto…"

Her voice against his ear made him shudder involuntarily, stirring things deep inside of him.

There was a long pause, as if Ino was thinking something over. He grew a bit curious but before he could voice it, he heard her speak.

"My parents went to sleep… they get up pretty late…"

Both teens flushed, cheeks a deep shade of red as they felt each other's heart beat loudly against their chest.

"I… want to stay with you tonight."

**Ch.19 End**

**That ends this chapter. Romance is a bit tough to write but I hope I managed to capture their feelings, god knows I tried. **

**I know this chapter was way too short but that was because I didn't want to pile on a bunch of things that would overshadow this chapter's focus which is the romance. So, next chapter is coming out today or early tomorrow. **


	20. One Down!

**Naruto: Making of a Hokage**

_**Sound's End Arc**_

**Ch.20 One Down!**

Running…

It was all she would do now.

But it hadn't been a fate that had been thrust upon her unwillingly. She had chosen it in order to accomplish something big. Much bigger than anything any village had ever done. Uniting the jinchuuriki and making them into a lethal force.

Albeit not having a clear goal, other than to escape from the villages that loathed them, she knew that it would be something that would bring more good than bad.

The absence of the jinchuuriki from their respective village would undoubtedly stir things between the leaders of the villages. Things like pointing fingers at one another and tensions rising were an expected result of their leaving but it would be dealt with when the time came. She didn't think that a war would break out simply because of the absence of a few, not to mention hated, individuals.

A smile graced her lips as a fresh sea-breeze hit her face, making her mint-colored hair ruffle wildly. She didn't think of herself as a person to appreciate the little things but she couldn't help but smile widely as she looked at the scenery before her.

The great blue sea brimmed with sunlight in the distance, salty water splashing on the shore as a few people ran about happily on the sand. Palm trees surrounded her and a salty smell hit her nostrils.

She had never experience anything like it. A short laugh escaped her lips, not being able to contain it any longer since looking at the beautiful sea was like a sign showing her newfound freedom. It expanded across the horizon just like her life now. Not being chained by the shackles of a village that hated her.

She was Fu, jinchuuriki of the seven-tails and former Waterfall ninja. A single goal drove her forward at the moment.

Find information on another jinchuuriki, and what better place to do so than the cozy little village on the shore. Yeah, she didn't find the idea of doing a bit of exploring on the area and maybe going for a swim fun, no, she was more serious than that.

With that in mind, and the smile still plastered on her face, Fu made her way to the beach.

* * *

><p>"This is great…" Fu trailed off as she stretched her arms over her head. The sand tickling her toes, the sun bringing warmth to her skin and the salty smell of the sea was like heaven compared to where she used to live.<p>

A smile etched on her face as she reached into her bag, containing some odd type of crunchy food. Having been living away from civilization had left her clueless on certain things that other people found normal, not to say that she was hopeless, she still knew enough to prevent herself from being duped.

It was different here though. Nobody knew her which meant that they didn't know of what she carried. This allowed her to go to any shop she wished and buy all kinds of stuff she couldn't before since she didn't want to associate with anyone. She still believed this and wasn't fond of meeting people but her curiosity got the best of her, figuring that just talking to a shop keeper would be somewhat tolerable.

Her vision turned to the sky as she plopped down on the sand. She didn't have any idea of what she was going to do. That idiot Naruto had told her to look for other jinchuuriki and talk them into following them but he never told her where to go. She supposed that was asking too much but he could've at least pointed her in the right direction.

"Get him!"

Eyes widening in surprise, Fu rose to a sitting position and turned her attention to a group of ninja running through the sandy beach. They were chasing after some wimpy looking guy with blue clothes. That was all she managed to see as they were going way too fast for her to keep up just with her eyes.

A frown etched on her face as she turned her attention away from the group of ninja, figuring that she shouldn't get any attention to herself.

'_Swish!'_

Her eyes filled with horror as she looked at the scene before her. The bag of delicious round treats had been savagely ripped apart by a kunai.

"W-Who…" she stammered as she rose to her feet. Her eyes seemed to burn up in rage as she quickly spotted the ninja that were most likely the owners of that kunai. She looked back at the discarded kunai with rage-filled eyes.

'_What better thing to do than return it.'_

Chakra gathered on her legs as she broke into an all-out chase. She would avenge her bag of treats and get her money back in one swoop. If that wasn't justice, she didn't know what was.

* * *

><p>'<em>How'd they manage to find me?'<em>

It was the first thing that ran through the black-haired ninja's head as he struggled to outrun his pursuers. He didn't like to fight and tried to avoid it most of the time though it didn't mean that he was weak. Besides his loath for fighting, he made sure to be as strong as possible. It was something he required if he wished to remain alive.

The many hunter nin following after him were easily a match for him individually but he knew that they would all fight him at once. It was how they worked, trying to end the fight as quickly as possible and return home. He didn't know how long this group of ninja had been hunting him for but what he did know was that he was running out of options.

Not only did he have to fight but he had to use _it._

"I've no choice," he muttered to himself as he leapt off the ground and twisted in the air in order to face his trackers. His hands twitched in anticipation as a trio of masked ninja stood before him, one of them holding a katana.

He prepared to attack, reaching into his blue kimono and in turn making the hunter nin tense up. Before he could fully prepare to attack, his eyes widened as a white blur crashed into one of the hunter nin.

"W-What?" He let out in shock as he watched as the girl struck the hunter nin with her knees before he was knocked away savagely.

The two remaining hunter nin were on the attack instantly but the girl seemed to be ready as she flashed something before them that stung the eyes, before pushing them away with a wind jutsu. He marveled at the turn of events before taking the opportunity to run.

"You're not going anywhere!"

His brows furrowed in confusion but he continued to move regardless, he didn't know what the girl's problem was but he could at least put some distance between himself and the hunter nin before she caught up to him. Part of him wondered how fast the girl was, considering the fact that she had taken a group of hunter nin by surprise but he didn't have to wonder long as the girl appeared in front of him, her orange eyes glaring into his.

"Who are you?" He questioned with a glare of his own.

The girl narrowed her eyes, "You just interrupted my meal time like an idiot and one of your stupid pursuers destroyed my food!"

Before he could comment on how stupid the whole situation sounded, they were interrupted by the remaining couple of hunter nin.

"We've got you now," one of them sneered, "Who would've thought that a dirty jinchuuriki would have an accomplice?"

Left with no choice but to fight, the jinchuuriki turned to the girl in hopes of having a bit of help, "My name is Utakata. I would appreciate it if you could help me. I'll even buy back what they destroyed."

"Fine," the girl smirked with a glint in her eye that he couldn't quite place, "My name's Fu, and I can think of a better way you can pay me back."

He didn't understand exactly what she meant but agreed nonetheless. At that instant Fu quickly emerged a green shroud that gave her two wings before a cocky smirk etched on her face.

* * *

><p>Naruto knew upon waking up that that had to be the best night of his life. He smiled as he glanced at the figure sleeping next to him, her blond hair messy and framing her face instead of covering a side of it. She was just so beautiful. He really had no idea what he did to deserve her, she was perfect.<p>

"Good morning," he smiled as he watched her stir and open her eyes.

She smiled in return before looking around warily, "What time is it?"

"Um… around nine I think," he responded, watching as her shoulders relaxed, "What's up?"

"I thought I woke up late and was worried that my parents would be awake when I got home," she explained as she suddenly rose from bed, making Naruto blush brightly before looking away in panic. She noticed and smirked, "What's wrong lover? You weren't this shy last night."

"S-Shut up," Naruto growled as he fought down the blush. He heard her giggle and turned to face her as she spun in place while wearing one of his shirts over her body. He never thought that one of his shirts would make Ino look so different. She was usually dressed in things that fit her perfectly but the loose fitting shirt and her messy hair made her look beautiful in an entirely different way.

Ino approached the blond and threw her arms around him, resting her chin on his shoulder. "I'm glad that we got to share something so great," she spoke honestly, "I really love you."

Naruto smiled as he broke the embrace and gave her a quick peck on the lips, "And I love you too… more than anything, but we have to get you home before we get in trouble."

"Yeah," she responded with a giggle, "It'd be horrible if my dad found out."

Flashes of spoons ran through Naruto's mind, his face showing nothing but panic before he pushed the thoughts away and gave Ino a pout, "Never joke about that."

"Quit your sulking," she laughed before picking up her clothes and running to the restroom.

Naruto let out a sigh as he heard the door close shut, a smile formed on his face as he shook his head and wondered if he could get to spend more time like this. He really liked being a ninja and fighting to protect others but for the first time, he knew without a doubt that he would throw it all away if it meant spending more time with her.

* * *

><p>Fu smiled triumphantly, having finished explaining her and Naruto's plans to Utakata. The fight with the hunter nin had gone in their favor since they had more raw power. It didn't take long for the two jinchuuriki to knock out their foes and tie them to the nearest tree and, hoping to lose them for good, made several trails that would surely throw them off.<p>

Now they stood on the side of a hill, Fu leaning against the rocky wall with her arms crossed and Utakata looking at her deep in thought.

"This plan of yours is anything but smart," Utakata admitted in a calm manner.

Fu grinned in return, "Yeah, pissing of the nations is not a smart thing but think of the big picture. All of us are going to have a chance to live the peaceful life we deserve. We have the perfect place to settle in and maybe if everything goes really well, we could start our own village."

"You really aim high," Utakata sighed out as he gave a glance to the forest the hill overlooked. "I admit that this plan of yours has me intrigued but why are you in such a rush. Gathering all of us doesn't require such haste."

"There's an organized group of S-rank ninja looking for our heads," Fu spoke casually, making the other jinchuuriki gasp at the revelation, "The Akatsuki is what they call themselves. I fought one of them and was defeated, in the end I got out of the situation thanks to a bluff."

Utakata frowned, "If this organization is that strong then what good will us being together do? They sound horribly strong from what you tell me and if one of us isn't enough to defeat one of them individually then we'll be overwhelmed if the group decides to attack us all at the same time. We'll end up being sitting ducks for them if we gather in one place."

"Actually, the Kyuubi jinchuuriki defeated a member by himself without using its chakra," she informed, receiving a surprised look from Utakata, "He left a scroll with a few things he wants me to do. One of the things he wants is to tell each of you to train on your Bijuu's control while at the same time working hard to make sure that we're not dependent on them. I guess he wants our Bijuu's powers to be a last resort."

Utakata looked away with a thoughtful expression, "I long for a world where I don't have to fight anymore. As soon as you said that we would be living peaceful lives, I decided to join you and if I have to fight in order to gain this life then so be it."

Fu smiled widely and took out a scroll, "This here has a map of where the place we're going to be staying at is. I want to drop a few things off and look around before searching for the others."

"Sounds good," he agreed with a nod, "I'd also like to see the place where we'll be living if all ends well."

* * *

><p>Tsunade looked up from her paperwork to see Naruto enter her office. She instantly gave him an approving nod seeing that he had gotten his hair cut shorter, similar to when she first met him. The last thing she needed on her busy plate was to have Naruto turn into some sort of idiot that didn't care about how ridiculous his hair got, she didn't want him to turn into another Jiraiya after all.<p>

"Good morning, granny," Naruto greeted with a wide smile that instantly told Tsunade that something happened, "I came here to learn about my new mission."

A bit put off by his overly cheery attitude, she gave him a nod and cleared her throat. "You're first mission as a Jounin," she began while gazing at the flak jacket he wore proudly, showing off his advanced rank, "Will be a B-rank mission, that being because you will not be leaving the village. You will escort a criminal that was just released."

Naruto deflated a little bit, feeling disappointed about his new mission.

"Your main priority will be the safety of the public. You are free to attack if she shows any sign of aggression and are to take her to one of the probation rooms near prison by eight every day. Any minute more will be your fault, understood?"

"Understood," he nodded, "When will I begin the mission?"

"Immediately," Tsunade responded before turning towards the door, having herd the sounds of footsteps with her sharp ears. "Enter," she granted permission before they could knock.

Naruto watched in curiosity as the door opened to reveal Ibiki and almost yelled out in surprise when seeing the prisoner. It was her, the girl that was part of the group of Sound ninja that had tried to take Sasuke away.

Said kunoichi looked around the room with a hint of curiosity before her eyes landed on the blond, snarling at the sight of him, "What the hell are you looking at shithead?"

"She's all yours," Ibiki spoke with an amused grin.

Naruto let out a nervous chuckle, already knowing he was going to dread every single second of this mission, "I'll take her off your hands then…"

* * *

><p>Orochimaru held a smirk on his face. After all this time the sharingan would finally be his. He was almost ready to take a new host and then he'd finally accomplish all of his goals.<p>

"Kabuto…" he acknowledged his follower who stood before him, "We're leaving this base. Sasuke is currently heading to our meeting place and I don't want to keep him waiting. Make sure to leave someone in charge, I have some things I want protected here."

"Very well," Kabuto complied before leaving the room.

Orochimaru continued to smirk as he rose from his seat, "It's finally within my grasp."

* * *

><p>Naruto frowned as he followed after Tayuya who for some reason decided to look around the village. Tsunade had gone over more mission details after the kunoichi's arrival, telling him that she was free to look around the village but should always be on his sight. She had then informed Naruto about the shackle on the Sound ninja's wrist, explaining that it would keep her from using chakra.<p>

'_If I knew the mission would be walking around with her, I would've preferred a D-Rank…' _Naruto thought bitterly just as Tayuya turned on her heels and fixed him with a hardened glare.

"This is fucking boring! I couldn't give less of a shit about some village," her hands balled into fists as she stared the ninja down, "If I knew this would fucking happen, I would've just stayed locked up."

Naruto frowned, "As much as I hate to admit it, you're needed because of what you know about Orochimaru. He's been a problem to Konoha for a while so…" He let out a sigh as he dug both hands into his pockets, "What do you want to do?"

"Anything instead of walking around like an idiot," she spat before crossing her arms and smirking, "I would also like to kick your ass but can't because of this fucking shackle."

"I can arrange that," Naruto smirked at the idea, "We could go to a clearing and 'spar.' Of course, I won't be using any chakra since it'd be an unfair advantage."

Tayuya smirked as well, "Fine, but don't think that I'll go easy on you. I'll take this chance to thoroughly kick your ass."

* * *

><p>"Fuck you," Tayuya growled, lying face down on the ground with her head raised enough to look at the blond.<p>

Naruto sat against a tree, amusement in his features, "It's not my fault that you suck at taijutsu. Why the hell did you ask for a fight knowing this anyway?"

Tayuya remained quiet in response. He was right, even when she was a Sound ninja all of her strength came from her genjutsu and ninjutsu. It became clear to her that she should've paid more attention to her taijutsu. Maybe she could do it now, fighting with the shithead had given her an opportunity to improve herself in that aspect.

She pushed herself off the ground and slipped into a battle stance, "I fight because there's nothing else to do in this shit village."

The blond grinned slightly and loosened himself up, readying for the spar while being careful not to use any form of taijutsu since he didn't want her learning any of it. He relied on reflexes to lash out and it was working great which didn't surprise him. He was an active ninja that fought others constantly, of course his reflexes would be enough for a rusty prisoner.

* * *

><p>The sun was setting as Naruto carried an unconscious Tayuya on his back. He had told her to take a break several times before she suddenly fainted. In panic he sent a clone to Tsunade who had slapped a hand to her forehead before telling the clone to take the former Sound ninja back to her.<p>

His attention shifted to what he could see of her face after hearing her mumble something against his ear. _'What an idiot,' _he couldn't help but smile slightly, impressed by her stubbornness and determination. It made him wonder if he had been too hard on her but dismissed it, knowing that she would've gone all out regardless. The Hokage Tower was close now, making him feel relieved.

She snored quietly, causing him to chuckle, "Don't worry miss scary kunoichi, we're almost there."

**Ch.20 End**


	21. Closer

**Naruto: Making of a Hokage**

_**Sound's End Arc**_

**Ch.21 Closer**

'_Crap! How could she improve just in one day!'_

Naruto ducked under a punch aimed at his face, making himself a target for an incoming knee which he blocked by bringing up both hands to protect himself. He was stronger physically so it was easy for him to push the opponent's knee down before leaping away from the girl who was now standing with a smirk on her face.

"What's the matter Shithead? It's almost like you're too slow for me now," Tayuya crossed her arms and scoffed, "You're lucky this is not a real fight."

Naruto grinned. "That's a lot of talk from someone that fainted after a bit of sparring," he teased, making the girl blush in embarrassment before growling in rage. He chuckled before dropping into a taijutsu stance, now feeling more at ease to show a bit of his style, "Alright, I guess I'll kick it up a notch."

The former Sound ninja knew that he wasn't kidding as he was upon her in seconds. She managed to react just in time to block an incoming strike to her chest but realized she had set herself up for a kick at her side. A grunt escaped her lips, her side crying out in pain but she didn't let up and immediately retaliated with a punch aimed at his face.

Naruto ducked under the punch, throwing a hand forward to feint a strike. Tayuya fell for the feint, leaving herself open which he took advantage of and struck her stomach with his other hand, knocking the wind out of her and making her stagger backwards. He remained in a battle stance, knowing better than to lower his guard against such a stubborn person.

Tayuya glared at the Konoha ninja and charged in, swinging her right arm to deliver a punch to his face but he easily sidestepped. Now left exposed and with Naruto having a clear chance to hit her stomach once again, she did it. She made something so horrifyingly bad that she wished to die right there and then.

She let out a quiet whimper.

Naruto's eyes were wide in disbelief as the girl came to a stop right next to him, her head lowered and fists shaking. Of all the things to expect from such a hardened former Sound ninja, a whimper was not something the blond was expecting, so he did the only reasonable thing.

He laughed.

"Shut up already!" Tayuya roared in rage as the blond ninja clutched his stomach with tears in his eyes.

"But… But…" Naruto tried to speak but couldn't as he broke into a fit of laughter.

The former Sound ninja glared and delivered a hard punch at the blond's stomach, making his breath hitch in his throat as he continued to clutch his stomach but now for different reasons.

"W-What the hell was that?" Naruto glared as he held his stomach in pain.

Tayuya crossed her arms, foot tapping rapidly, "That's for laughing at me." She inched closer to Naruto and gripped his neckline tightly, "Nobody finds out about this. Understand?"

"No problem," he smiled, not feeling threatened.

With that settled, she let him go and took a few steps back, eyes still blazing in fury, "Good."

Naruto's gaze softened as he looked at the former Sound ninja that was avoiding his gaze and had the remains of an embarrassed blush on her cheeks.

"I think I was a bit too hard on you, sorry."

"Don't apologize Shithead," Tayuya replied with a frown, "I'd rather have you fight me seriously than take it easy. It means you see me as what I am, a kunoichi."

He grinned in return though he wasn't entirely happy with what she had taken to call him, "It's around noon now and I haven't eaten anything. Wanna go get some ramen? I'm paying since I'm that good of an escort."

She scoffed, "Fine I'll go but you're still an ass."

He chuckled in return before leading the way.

* * *

><p>Ino sighed as she tended after her family's flower shop. It wasn't that she was upset about being asked to look after it, but she wanted to spend more time with Naruto. The two hadn't really seen each other since their date and what the two had experienced made her feel agitated.<p>

She had wondered if he didn't like something about her after being so intimate with each other but she quickly dismissed the thought. The guy had been a flustered mess after she left his apartment that morning. Looking back, she had been completely relieved to arrive at her home to find her parents still asleep. It had been wrong to just leave for the whole night so she figured that she'd tell her mom of her absence if it happened again, she was a lot more lenient than her dad after all.

Her thoughts were interrupted by the chime of the store's bell. "Welcome, how are you doing today?" She instantly put on a smile, expecting a customer only to see Sakura looking at her with a grin.

"Good to see you're actually polite Ino," Sakura began in a teasing tone, "Who knew it was possible?"

Ino rolled her eyes, "What are you doing here?"

"I heard you were back and figured that I'd come visit you," she admitted before glancing around the store curiously, "Where's Naruto anyway? I figured he'd be with you."

"Don't remind me," Ino muttered a bit too bitterly for her liking.

A bit of worry showed on the medic ninja's face as she approached the store's counter, "Don't tell me you two got in a fight?"

"Of course not," she replied instantly. "I just…" she bit her lip before deciding it was okay to confide in her best friend, "Well… Naruto and I pretty much reached a new level in our relationship."

"Oh," Sakura nodded before understanding flashed on her face, "Oh!"

"Yeah," Ino leaned against the counter, worry showing on her features, "It was great and I don't regret it but we haven't seen each other since then. I really want to see him but I haven't had the chance. Every time I go to his apartment, it's empty."

Sakura frowned, "That idiot…" She couldn't understand why her teammate would just avoid his girlfriend like that, it wasn't like he had - She slapped a hand to her face, remembering something that she hadn't paid much attention too, "I can't believe I forgot about it."

"Forgot what?"

"Naruto's on a mission right now," she responded with a slight grin, "Lady Tsunade told me that he was on a mission that would take up a lot of his time without him really leaving the village. That's probably why he hasn't seen you yet."

Ino smiled, feeling relieved, "I guess it makes sense that he was put on a mission after becoming a Jounin."

"He's a Jounin?" Sakura let out in surprise.

"Of course," Ino smirked, "He's my boyfriend after all, it's no surprise that he would be a Jounin so quickly."

"For your information he was already a good ninja before he dated you."

Ino looked away defiantly, "As if. It wasn't until I was there to kick him into shape that he began to improve. I even got him to get rid of that orange jumpsuit."

Sakura smiled in return. She couldn't argue with that.

* * *

><p>Sasuke frowned as he glanced at the approaching Orochimaru and his follower. They were in the middle of a large field so they were highly visible, so much in fact that he could notice something different about the much older man. That thing being the traces of white on his hair. He dismissed the thought though, figuring that the man was aging.<p>

"It's been some time, Sasuke," Orochimaru greeted with a smirk on his face.

The Uchiha scoffed and crossed his arms before nodding at the snake summoner, "Orochimaru."

"It seems I'm pressed for time at the moment," Orochimaru began, "We have to keep on moving. I assume you have no problem with that?"

"Of course not," Sasuke responded flatly.

Kabuto approached the two with a polite smile, "If we move a bit faster, we'll get there before sundown."

"Very well," Orochimaru smirked as he and the others began to make their way to one of his many bases.

* * *

><p>'…<em>the current host was in an advanced age. A new one was needed which is why, in order to prevent the demon from being free, Whirlpool deemed it necessary to assign a new one. A young girl with special chakra that lived in Konoha.'<em>

Naruto stopped reading over the scroll after that sentence, shock written on his features as he tried to process what he just read. There had been someone else, a girl at the time, that had been the fox's jinchuuriki. A scowl etched on his face as he came to a conclusion. His mother had been the jinchuuriki, he had no doubt.

Jiraiya had told him things about his parents, giving him the names Minato and Kushina. What he didn't understand was why his master had kept his mother's identity as a jinchuuriki a secret when he had gone into a lot of detail when it came to his father. Sure it didn't seem to matter much anymore but he deserved to know.

He ran a hand through his hair and let out a groan, feeling a headache coming. Pushing those thoughts aside he opted to read over the other scrolls he had gotten from his stay in Whirlpool. Some of the seals and jutsu the scrolls had could really help him out, like the Chakra Chains. He would be lying if he said he didn't think they were cool.

"Alright time for some training," he grinned to himself in the middle of the clearing he was in. The moon was high in the sky and even though he should be sleeping he couldn't. For some reason sleep didn't come to him so he decided to tire himself out doing something productive.

Thirty clones appeared before the blond on his command, "Alright guys you know the drill, I want to learn this one as fast as possible so twenty of you work on it, the rest are going to help me with something else."

The clones complied and went to work, the real Naruto knowing that it would be a long night.

* * *

><p>Tayuya was glad to be out of prison. It had been a lot like her time in the Sound Village in which she had to take down any idiot that thought she was weak because of her sex. It always ended up with said idiots laying on the floor in a near death state. She had to be ruthless, not that she minded really, in order to assert herself as someone not to mess with.<p>

The main difference were the interrogation sessions. She never thought that a place like Konoha could be so ruthless, not only inflicting physical pain but running through her mind and digging up shit she didn't like. It had taken a lot of herself not to spill anything but she could only take so much and those three years had her exhausted. But everything was different now.

For the first time she experienced what a peaceful village is like, boring but relaxing at the same time. She never put down her guard but found herself lowering it ever so slightly. This wasn't her village and it was full of ninja that would take her down were she to get into a fight. At that thought she glanced at the ninja leading the way.

It had been a few moments since he had come to escort her through the village and had insisted on changing the location of their spars. A part of her could stand the shithead, she could still feel the punch to her gut that started their first spar. The bastard hadn't held back at all in his strikes. She thought that side of him was respectable though it didn't really change the fact that she found the guy annoying.

"We're here," Naruto declared, breaking Tayuya out of her thoughts.

She glanced around the area with a frown, "What's so special about this place? Besides the waterfall, this place doesn't look any different than where we went yesterday."

The blond ninja shook his head. "See that there," he pointed at a group of rocks in the stream, only a few feet away from where the water crashed down. "I thought sparring in a clearing would get boring so I thought of some ways to mix it up. Today we have to spar while standing on those rocks, whoever falls the most times loses."

"Then make it more interesting," Tayuya smirked, "Whoever loses has to listen to one request from the winner. Anything goes."

"Except taking off your shackle, right?"

Her eyes narrowed at the jab from the smug looking blond, "Sounds good. I'll just think of something to wipe that look off your face. I'm thinking of humiliation on a public level."

"Aren't you cocky?" Naruto chuckled as he approached one of the rocks and stepped on it, careful not to slip due to how wet it was.

Tayuya knew she had it in the bag as soon as she stepped on her own rock, Shithead obviously didn't know that she was excellent at keeping her balance. Not even walking on ice could make her slip.

Feeling confident, Tayuya leapt at the blond, aiming a kick to his side but he easily caught it before throwing her behind his back. Her eyes were wide in disbelief as she tried to land on the nearest rock but slipped and fell on the stream.

"I wonder what I should make you do?" Naruto wondered out loud with a grin.

The former Sound ninja growled as she swam over to the water's edge before stepping on a nearby rock. She cursed herself for having been so confident and, to make matters worse, the fucking Hokage hadn't given her the best of wardrobes which meant that her simple white shirt that reached a little above her knees and the black shorts that peeked out of her shirt, clung tightly to her body.

"Maybe we should stop…" the blond muttered to himself with his gaze elsewhere.

Tayuya growled and leapt at the blond, this time throwing a punch that caught him off guard and made contact with his chest. She smirked and followed up by landing on his rock and pushing her body against his, making the ninja yelp, lose his balance and finally fall.

"We don't stop until I win," she declared smugly.

Naruto gritted his teeth as he used chakra to walk out of the water and step on the nearest rock. Why the hell had he come up with such a stupid idea? It seemed fun at first but he hadn't expected the girl's appearance to have such an effect on him. The freaking shirt not only outlined her figure but gave him taunting peeks at what she hid under the large shirt.

"You only caught me off guard once, calm down," he muttered back angrily before taking a deep breath to calm himself and getting ready for the spar that he would surely win.

* * *

><p>Their spar had gone on for a few hours and, much to Naruto's horror he was losing. He found out the hard way that Tayuya was incredibly balanced and flexible, not to mention that the close proximity of her body had made him back off and fall into the water several times.<p>

"Alright enough already you win," he frowned as he sat on the water's age, clothes soaked and hair slumped.

Tayuya grinned as she moved to stand near him and crossed her arms, "Don't forget our condition. You have to listen to one request."

He dreaded the fact but nodded, "Fine just don't make it too unreasonable."

She clicked her tongue, "Since getting the shackle off is too much to ask, then… I got it. You have to treat me to food every day since I don't want to eat that shit they give us at the probation place I'm staying at."

"That doesn't sound too bad," he grinned, "Wanna go eat ramen again?"

Tayuya rolled her eyes but nodded, "You better buy something other than ramen next time. I can see myself getting sick of it pretty soon."

"No problem," he shrugged as he stood up, "As long as we can still go there at least five times a week then I'm good."

She let out a sigh as he led the way out of the clearing. Her gaze rested on his back before she looked away with a small grin.

The shithead was okay.

**Ch21 End**

**So I ended up thinking that I wasn't updating enough so here you go, another chapter. I'm not sure when the next one will come out but I don't think it'll take too long since I have a lot of free time nowadays.**


	22. Busy Lives

**Naruto: Making of a Hokage**

_**Sound's End Arc**_

**Ch.22 Busy Lives  
><strong>

Fu wasn't the kind of person to care about where she lived but Naruto had to be kidding if he thought that all the jinchuuriki could live in what remained of Whirlpool. When he had told her that the village needed some repairing because of damage from war, she hadn't expected such destruction. The only thing left standing was a building, the rest was rubble.

"I can see this place recovering though it'll be costly even without the workers we don't have," Utakata commented as he stood with Fu on the entrance to the only remaining building.

Fu let out a sigh as she emerged the scroll containing Naruto's instruction, "Maybe he left something about it here. I'm sure he's not dumb enough to just forget about it."

Utakata shrugged and leaned against the building's wall, "We cannot stay here for long though. The Akatsuki might be hunting one of the others at this very moment."

"I know, we should leave today since I doubt there'll be anywhere to sleep here anyway," she pocketed the first scroll and took out another containing a map. Utakata raised from his spot and approached the map, pointing at the Fire Nation's eastern shore.

"We could probably find a place to rest there and find some information on the others."

"What makes you say that?" Fu asked with a raised brow.

"A lot of trade happens in areas like that, meaning that there's a lot of people there," Utakata explained calmly, "I'm sure that there's at least someone to have heard about a jinchuuriki there."

Fu nodded firmly, "Then it's settled. We should contact Naruto tomorrow though, I wanna know what he's planned for Whirlpool."

With that the two left the destroyed village, heading to where they had left their 'borrowed' boat.

* * *

><p>Naruto panted slightly, sweat trailing down the side of his face and eyes brimming in excitement. In front of him stood Tayuya in a battle stance similar to his own.<p>

"Looks like you got the basics down," he spoke with a grin, "I can't teach you all of it though. If someone I know saw you use it then I'll be in trouble, besides, you know enough to make it into your own style.

Tayuya eased her stance, crossing her arms and giving him a smirk, "I didn't want to copy your style anyway. The way I see it, it's full of openings and you're lucky I still have this shackle on or you'd be picking your teeth from the floor."

Naruto chuckled, used to her somewhat crude remarks, "You talk a lot for a whimpering mess of a kunoichi."

"You said you'd never bring it up again!" She glared and clenched her fists, "Looks like I have to bring you down a couple of notches."

"Oh really? How exactly is someone weaker than me supposed to do that?"

Tayuya smirked. "I wanna go out to eat, we've been sparring for a while," she fought the urge to laugh when seeing Naruto pale. The idiot had apparently forgotten about their bet, "I feel like something… expensive..? Yeah, why not? Let's go somewhere where I can get my fill but at the same time empty your wallet."

Naruto grumbled something under his breath, making the kunoichi chuckle.

"What's the matter Shithead? You lost a bet, act like a man and accept it."

He crossed his arms, looking away with a scowl, "I do accept it, I just don't like it."

With that the two made their way out of their usual training spot, quickly reaching the Konoha streets after a quick jog. It was a great day in the village and Naruto couldn't help but smile a bit more when seeing a few people wave and smile in his direction. Among the people was a very shocked kunoichi with pink hair, green eyes radiating a silent anger as she quickly approached her teammate and the girl he was walking with that was _not _Ino.

"Hi Naruto! It's been a while," she greeted with a forced smile, gaining the attention of the two.

"Oh, hey Sakura," Naruto greeted with a friendly smile while the girl next to him crossed her arms and glared at the unknown kunoichi.

"I haven't really seen you in a while, where have you been?" Sakura asked before giving the red haired girl a quick look and adding, "And who's this?"

Naruto glanced at Tayuya before turning back to his teammate, "This is Tayuya, she's a…" He stopped momentarily, not knowing what to call the girl with him. As cold as it sounded, she had been an assignment at first but he had grown somewhat attached to her and he was sure it was the same for her judging by how they joked around when alone. He remained quiet for a bit more before grinning, "She's a friend."

Tayuya looked at him in momentary surprise before turning her attention back to the stranger, "That's right, who are you anyway?"

Sakura frowned at her tone and narrowed her eyes, "I'm Sakura, Naruto's teammate and also a friend of his _girlfriend_."

"That's cute," Tayuya spat before smirking, "I've never met this friend of yours in all the time Naruto and I have been spending _together_, but tell her I said hello."

Naruto noticed the tension in the air and took hold of Tayuya's shoulders before pushing her away with him. "Sorry Sakura," he smiled sheepishly, "But we're going somewhere to eat. I'll see you later."

Sakura tried to respond but couldn't as her teammate and Tayuya walked off, the latter turning back with a victorious smirk. The medic ninja had no idea what was going on or where Naruto had found his little friend but she was sure that it meant trouble for Ino. The idiot was naturally friendly and, despite having a girlfriend, still a bit dense which was a terrible combination.

"I have to tell Ino what's going on," Sakura muttered to herself in worry about what the news would cause. Ino and Naruto hadn't seen each other in over a week, something she had heard Ino complain about, add to the mix a new girl that is a bit too friendly with Naruto, and you got yourself a time bomb. The medic was adamant in stopping it. She had seen how happy Ino and Naruto were together and she wouldn't let it end because of some bitch.

With that in mind, Sakura walked off in the direction of Ino's home.

* * *

><p>'<em>Okay, tell her about it in the most nonchalant way possible,' <em>Sakura told herself. She was currently standing just outside of the Yamanaka Flower Shop and was going over things before taking action. _'She just has to know before something happens between them, that girl has a thing for him no doubt.'_

With a nod to herself, Sakura entered the shop, hearing the familiar chime of a bell.

"Welcome to- Sakura? What are you doing here?" Ino asked from behind the counter. It was usual for Sakura to visit but she usually came at a much later time.

"I ran into Naruto not too long ago," she spoke with a fake smile.

Ino cocked her head to the side, "… And?"

"Oh, well…" Sakura trailed off, suddenly unsure of how to go about things. "Well, he was walking around the village with a girl I didn't know and was hoping you could tell me who she was," she finally told her.

"A girl you don't know?" Ino repeated mostly to herself, wondering if there was actually a friend of Naruto's that Sakura didn't know. "What did she look like?"

"She had long red hair and an angry glare," she replied, looking a bit thoughtful, "Those were the things that struck out the most."

"I'll talk to him later," Ino spoke after a momentary silence, watching over Sakura with a bit of curiosity. "You really didn't have to go out of your way to tell me," she earned a look of surprise from her friend, "Lighten up Sakura, they were just walking around… Seriously, it's like you're more worried about it than me."

Sakura looked at her friend in wonder, "Right… Well, I have to get going."

"I'll see you later," Ino smiled as her friend left before frowning just as the medic left the shop.

Who was she kidding? Of course it worried her. She hadn't seen Naruto ever since they spent the night together and now he was being seen with some random girl she didn't know.

She knew that Naruto wouldn't try anything but she wasn't so sure about the unknown girl. They needed to have a talk, not just about this girl, but about everything. It seemed like a while since she had last been with him.

"Alright," she muttered to herself, "I'll see him tonight."

* * *

><p>He fucked up.<p>

Naruto knew that for a fact as he and Tayuya hurried down the path leading to the probation rooms. The sun had set some time ago and the two had been too engrossed in their conversation to pay attention to the time. They were past her curfew by at least half an hour and he was ready to take the blame, it had been his duty to watch the time after all.

He only hoped that Tsunade wouldn't–

"Crap," he grumbled when seeing Tsunade standing in front of the large probation building where Tayuya was staying.

The Fifth Hokage had her arms crossed, eyes narrowing at the sight of Naruto and the former prisoner. "Tell me Naruto, why am I here?" She frowned deeply as the blond averted her eyes, "Well?"

Tayuya frowned at the exchange and looked at Naruto in concern, the shithead would sometimes talk about his dreams of becoming Hokage and how he was getting recognition. She knew that this little violation of a curfew wouldn't be enough to stain his record but she couldn't help but want to help the guy out. Spending time with him was great, even though she would never admit it, and if it hadn't been for her then he wouldn't have gotten in trouble.

Her eyes burned in determination as she took a step forward to stand between Shithead and the Hokage. "It wasn't the guy's fault, I made a run for it in the forest and the idiot couldn't find me," she scoffed, "Shithead tracked me down a few minutes ago."

"I see," Tsunade frowned before giving Naruto a nod, "I understand why you're late but getting her here on time is your responsibility. You're relieved of your duty as soon as I find someone else for the job."

Naruto didn't respond as Tsunade walked off in anger. He turned to Tayuya as soon as the Fifth left, wondering why she had helped him.

"Don't say anything," Tayuya spoke before he could say anything. She grinned and stretched out her hand, making Naruto look at her curiously, "We might have a few days left together so I wanted to say that it hasn't been terrible. You're okay for a shithead."

He smiled and took her hand, "I can say the same… you're not bad for such an aggressive person."

She chuckled and pulled her hand away before giving him a final nod, "Well, I'll see you tomorrow."

"See ya," Naruto returned the gesture as she entered the building. He stood still for a moment before letting out a sigh, eyes closing before he spoke, "I know you're there Granny."

Tsunade emerged from behind a tree, still appearing to be upset. "This is the first time you've given me trouble Naruto. Because of that I'll let it slide this time but there's still something that bothers me."

"What's that?"

"She was obviously lying about making a run for it, only an idiot wouldn't see that. The thing that bothers me is that she defended you," she explained with a frown, "From what I know she's never made any attempts to befriend anyone in all the time she spent in prison. My guess is that she's planning to gain enough of your trust to get an opportunity to escape without telling us anything about Orochimaru."

Naruto's eyes narrowed, "She's not doing that. You don't know her like I do Granny, but I can tell you that there's no way something like that crossed her mind."

"What makes you so sure?" Tsunade asked with her arms crossed.

"Because she's my friend and I know her," he stated with a glare. "If that's all, then I'll get going, Lady Hokage," he walked past her with his hands in his pockets. There was no way that Tayuya would do that to him and Tsunade telling him that only made him angry. Why did they treat her like that just because of a mistake? It probably wasn't even her fault that she ended up working for Orochimaru.

"Dammit," he growled as he stomped his way home.

* * *

><p>His mood hadn't improved much since he had made it home. Naruto's confusing thoughts about Tayuya were whirling around his head rapidly. He couldn't help but see the similarities about his younger days and how she was currently being treated, it made him want to reach out and help her through it. He wasn't ignorant about the glares she received when the two walked together and the careful glances other shinobi gave her, it was all-too familiar to him to the point that it made him sick.<p>

He grew agitated, buried feelings resurfacing. It wasn't entirely new to him, he had been constantly reminded about his past treatment by the Kyuubi, back when it tried to fuel his hatred during battle. This time though, the feelings had resurfaced on their own and he couldn't just push them back or blame another influence for them.

"Naruto?"

He was broken out of his thoughts by a voice followed by several knocks on his door.

"Coming!" He called out as he opened the door to his guest, a smile instantly forming on his face due to the pleasant surprise, "Ino."

She smiled in return, looking at him carefully before inching a bit closer to him, "Aren't you going to let me in?"

"Oh! Yeah!" Naruto let out dumbly as he let her in, closing the door behind her. His eyes followed her movements, watching calmly as she sat on his sofa. "Sorry I haven't been able to see you lately." He let out a sigh, only now noticing what a bad boyfriend he had been. "Granny's latest mission's been taking a lot of my time."

"What kind of mission is it?" She asked in curiosity. Sakura had told her that Naruto had a mission, that much she knew, but the details about it were a mystery to her.

He sat next to her and grinned, "Well, there's this Sound kunoichi that has valuable information about Orochimaru… bases and stuff. She's agreed to talk as long as Granny lets her free. I'm supposed to watch over her until her probation's over… Well, not anymore since I'm being replaced."

Ino felt relieved at hearing about the mission. It hadn't been anything like what Sakura was implying, rather, it had been a mission in which he couldn't get far from her. It all made sense now, that's probably why he hadn't been seeing her lately and, if she were to be honest, she'd been quite busy to do so as well.

"Why are you being replaced?" She asked after thinking over the last part of what he had said.

Naruto scratched the back of his neck nervously, "Well uh… I was supposed to take her to where she was staying at a certain time but didn't and Granny got mad." He winced at the memory, scolding himself for having been so wrapped up in his own little world that he ignored everything else. Even the things he had been thinking about earlier seemed insignificant now.

He couldn't help but smile, there was something about being with Ino that let him clear his head. Just by being with her he felt so calm and that nothing but making her happy mattered.

"Looks like you're still late for everything," she smiled and pulled him into a hug, placing her head on his chest, "You know, I've really missed this."

Naruto smiled as he wrapped his arms around her, "Sorry… I've been so tied up with my mission and training on a new jutsu that I just come home to sleep."

"Don't worry about it, now we're together," Ino replied.

"You know there's… _other _things I've missed about being with you," Naruto murmured into her ear, a playful smirk on his face when feeling her tense up slightly.

Despite the wild beat of her heart, Ino managed a playful smile, "What kinds of things?"

"You'll find out…" he replied, pulling away in order to look into her eyes. "Want me to show you?"

"Absolutely," she answered as he pulled her into a kiss.

**Ch.22 End  
><strong>


	23. Sudden Rush

**Naruto: Making of a Hokage**

_**Sound's End Arc**_

**Ch.23 Sudden Rush  
><strong>

_When did everything go so wrong?_

It was the question Naruto, Tayuya, Neji, Lee, and Kiba asked themselves quietly as they sped through a dense forest.

"There's four chasing after us!" Neji informed the others.

Naruto growled. "We can't keep running forever, I get the feeling they're cornering us," he voiced his concerns with a deep frown.

"But they've been chasing after us all this time," Lee pointed out, "And I don't think they could have expected to face us."

"That's the problem," Naruto countered, "We've got the same four chasing after us. Meaning that whatever number of ninja they have that's not chasing us could be waiting for us."

"You're right," Tayuya agreed, "That's the way we would take care of whatever trespassers we had, by attacking by surprise with a large amount of ninja."

Neji turned to Kiba, "We're going to need to split up. Kiba, you go with Naruto and the prisoner. Lee and I will take care of the ones chasing after us."

Despite being a bit reluctant to leave a fellow ninja behind, Kiba nodded in understanding, "I guess there's no other way. We'll try to get the any sort of information and then come help you as soon as we can."

"Good," Neji replied before nodding in Lee's direction, both stopping their run by landing on a large tree branch.

It wasn't long before four Sound ninja emerged from the shadows, their features cloaked by heavy brown cloaks. They appeared to be surprised by the sudden confrontation, giving Neji and Lee the opportunity to strike first.

Not wasting their chance, the two members of Team Gai leapt at the startled enemies, both keen on ending things before any more ninja arrived.

* * *

><p>Naruto frowned as he followed after Kiba and Akamaru. Tayuya ran next to him, her expression unreadable. It was understandable really, she was facing off against who she once called comrades. He thought of saying something to ease her mind but didn't. How could he if he was a frustrated mess?<p>

Neji was acting like a stuck up bastard again. Ordering him around and undermining his new authority as a Jonin in front of the others. Naruto had never been one to care about rank that much but, having the Hyuuga name Kiba as the second in command of the mission was just an added slap to the face. If that weren't enough, Tsunade had made it perfectly clear that any sort of failure would be his fault just because he and Tayuya were friends. It was starting to feel like their distrust of the former Sound kunoichi was now being directed at him for no other reason than showing a bit of friendliness.

He could still remember how that horrible mission briefing went.

* * *

><p>"<em>You've all been called here because there's trouble in our Eastern border," Tsunade explained to the ninja she had picked for the mission. Neji, Lee, Kiba, and Naruto along with their prisoner. "There's been word from a smaller village that a group of ninja have been abducting people. These are no ordinary ninja as they possess some…disturbing abilities, which leads me to believe that these are Sound ninja."<em>

_The Fifth Hokage turned her gaze to their Sound prisoner, "That's why I called _her _here. I want her to tell us if there's a base on the Easter border."_

_Tayuya nodded despite not wanting to give the very annoying Hokage anything. "There's a base that consists mostly of underground labs in that area," she shrugged, "If they're abducting people then they're probably looking for test subjects."_

"_I thought as much," Tsunade responded before fixing her stern gaze on Naruto. "You have to go with Neji, Lee, and Kiba. If it's really a Sound base then I want it dealt with as soon as possible. Having our prisoner lead you there would be the fastest way for you to get there," she threw a scroll at Neji, "You are to head this mission. That scrolls contains a seal to take off the prisoner's shackle, take it off if the situation arises."_

"_Understood," Neji curtly replied._

"_And Naruto," Tsunade added with a scolding tone, "The prisoner is your full responsibility! If she gets away then it'll be your fault only. Do not let anything cloud your judgment on this mission. Understood?"  
><em>

_Naruto remained quiet but nodded._

"_Very well then, you're dismissed."_

* * *

><p>In the end though, Naruto was mostly mad at himself. It wasn't like him to get so worked up over orders but everyone's problem with Tayuya was really getting to him. Couldn't they see that she was a good person? Even if they didn't, what gave them all the right to turn their distrust and anger directly at him?<p>

Neji had made it perfectly clear that he would not be second in command just because being Tayuya's friend would 'cloud his judgment.' What did the guy know anyway? Naruto got the feeling that he simply didn't want him to go.

It was at times like this that he realized just how much his friends meant to him. Being judged by so many of them was really putting him down, makings his thoughts and feelings twist in ways he'd only experience with the Kyuubi's influence.

He really needed Ino. She always seemed to have the answers to everything and the way she looked at things, so lightly, made him let things go. Her presence had always helped him calm down in situations like this and he found himself dreading this mission more than before. He just wanted to get home already, it'd been only one day but he was already missing her so much. He didn't even get the chance to say goodbye as Tsunade had called for their meeting just as they woke up.

At least they were almost to the base. That _had _to count for something.

* * *

><p>"Did you hear anything?" Fu asked as she and Utakata met up after looking for information around town.<p>

"I learned a few things," Utakata explained before leaning against the wall of a building, Fu doing the same and looking at him expectantly. "I met with a Rock ninja and he ended up telling me which village had which jinchuuriki. It's really amazing how they run their mouth once they have a few drinks," he chuckled before continuing, "Apparently the only ones left are; the Leaf's Kyuubi jinchuuriki, Cloud's Hachibi and Nibi jinchuuriki, and…well, us."

"So there's only going to be four of us in Whirlpool, not counting Naruto since I don't think he'll leave his village," Fu muttered to herself in thought, "And that's being optimistic, who's to say the others will want to come with us."

Utakata nodded in agreement, "Even if they did, Cloud is one of the most…'war-friendly' villages. I doubt we'll be able to leave with them even if they wanted to."

"Well," Fu declared after a brief moment of silence. "Staying here and talking about it won't do us any good. We might as well get going before the Akatsuki finds either of them, though I really think they're going after the Nibi jinchuuriki first," she began to walk away with Utakata soon following after her, "That idiot Naruto hasn't answered my message yet."

"Maybe he's indisposed or on a mission," Utakata pointed out.

Fu nodded in understanding, "I know. I'm not one to follow plans to the letter but he could've at least given us a hint as to how we should do this."

"I'm sure if he's anything like you described him then he probably thought of something," Utakata assured, "Just be patient."

* * *

><p>"There it is," Kiba announced as he, along with Akamaru, led the others to the entrance of the Sound base. It was just a large roofed stairway going down that they had found thanks to Neji's byakuugan before being chased out by the Sound ninja.<p>

"Don't just go in," Naruto stopped Kiba before he could take another step. "What do you think Tayuya? Is there anything we could do to keep the Sound ninja from knowing we're here?"

She seemed to think for a moment before nodding. "Rookie Sound ninja kept on tripping the alarm so a seal was installed in most of the bases, this being one of them from what I remember," Tayuya explained as she tapped a point on the small ceiling to reveal a glowing seal. A triumphant smirk spread on her face as she deactivated it, "There we go. They shouldn't notice us coming in now."

"Alright then, let's get going," Kiba lead the way inside, his and Akamaru's noses leading them down the stairs.

"Hey Shithead?" Tayuya whispered to Naruto with a troubled look on her face.

"What is it?" He whispered back.

She raised her shackled arm, "What am I supposed to do if we run into trouble? I can't fight with this fucking thing on."

"I know," he frowned, "But only Neji can get it off."

"Now I get it," Tayuya smiled grimly, "They sent me here expecting to get the information I can give them and get me killed at the same time. Quite extreme for Konoha, don't you think?"

"Don't worry about it too much," he assured with a confident grin, "I'll be there to watch your back. Besides, I could probably get the shackle off if we really run into trouble. It's not a sure thing but I think it's possible."

"Fine. If our bet is any indication, I know you keep your word," she replied with noticeable relief in her voice.

Naruto chuckled before focusing on the task at hand. He had to double-take when he noticed that they were walking down a lightly dimmed hallway now. Kiba and Akamaru walked ahead of them, apparently unaware of his momentary distraction.

It didn't take long for them to make it into a brightly lit room with various types of odd machines, some holding incubators with small orbs. Upon closer inspection Naruto recognized them as attempts to recreate a sharingan. He really couldn't understand the snake bastard's fascination with the eye. Did he really think it would help him learn jutsu he didn't already know? From what he knew the sharingan had to see a jutsu being used in order to copy it, what were the odds that Orochimaru would run into someone like that?

"I'm gonna go check for any research papers or whatever. Watch my back Naruto," Kiba spoke up as he and Akamaru began to search through the many file cabinets around the room.

Naruto nodded as he went to move by the doorway, eyes fixed for any sort of movement. Tayuya moved to stand next to him with an expression of deep thought on her face. It was like she was trying to remember something.

"Anything wrong?"

"I don't know," Tayuya admitted, her eyes narrowed as she continued to try to figure out why having the brainless mutt and the dog looking through the research files made her uneasy. From what she remembered, whenever she was sent to look through the files, Orochimaru, being a paranoid bastard, would always –

Her eyes widened as she quickly turned to the stupid ninja rummaging through the papers. "Stop right now!"

"What do you want?" Kiba shot back, peeved at having the prisoner telling him what to do.

"There's motion sensing seals on the cabinets. Every time one of them is tripped a Sound ninja comes to see what's going on," Tayuya explained, "In other words. Get the fuck away from there and let's go."

Kiba growled. "Let's get going then, I managed to get a few things anyway," he held up a few papers before beginning to walk away before his nose caught a scent, "Dammit! There's more than one coming here. They're obviously on to us!"

"Shadow Clone Jutsu!" Naruto made three copies of himself before turning to meet Kiba's eyes, "These guys can distract them while we think of something."

"Our mission wasn't just to find information but to save those that were kidnapped by the Sound ninja," Kiba recalled with a worried look on his face, "How can we do that if we're forced to fight them here? We could end up hurting one of them!"

Naruto smirked as his clones ran out of the room. "Don't worry," he assured Kiba before closing his eyes and concentrating, "I'll find the prisoners in no time, just keep those ninja busy."

"But you're not a sensor ninja. How are you going to find them?," Kiba argued.

Yellow eyes snapped open as the clashing sound of battle echoed through the hallways, "Just trust me on this."

**Ch.23 End**


	24. Beginning of Battle

**Alright guys I'm back. Sorry about taking so long to update but my laptop broke down and I had to buy a new one.**

* * *

><p><strong>Naruto: Making of a Hokage<strong>

_**Sound's End Arc**_

**Ch.24 Beginning of Battle**

Ino hummed happily as she sat behind the desk of her family's flower shop.

"What's gotten you so happy?" Sakura asked upon entering the shop. Her eyes held happiness at seeing the change of mood of her friend. Despite whatever she said, Sakura knew that Ino hadn't been as happy as she let on lately.

"Hi Sakura!" Ino beamed before giggling to herself, "I saw Naruto yesterday. You should've seen him! He was so romantic."

The medic had to quirk an eyebrow at that. Her teammate, Naruto, being romantic... The thought was odd to her as she had never seen her teammate as the kind of person to focus on anything more than training or eating.

"I'm sure he was..." Sakura trailed off, deciding to keep from doing anything that might break Ino out of her good mood. "So, where is he? I haven't properly talked to him in a while."

Ino shook her head, "He's away on a mission right now but I'm sure he'll be back soon."

"I see," Sakura nodded in response, "I wanted to tell him about the new addition to Team 7"

"New addition?"

"Yeah, it's this weird guy named Sai," she responded before chuckling, "But I'm pretty sure the two of them won't get along. They'll probably end up fighting when they meet."

Ino cocked her head to the side in confusion, "Why's that?"

Sakura looked away with a bitter smile, "That's...what happened with me. Sai said something stupid and I punched him through a tree."

"Right," Ino replied a bit sheepishly, making a mental note not to get on Sakura's bad side in the future.

* * *

><p>Neji frowned as his byakugan picked up a few more Sound ninja coming their way. The first few were easy enough but the sheer number was beginning to weigh down on him, he was also sure that Lee was in the same condition despite his denial of the fact.<p>

"Lee, there's another group of ninja coming this way. Let's keep a low profile for now and think of a plan, I'm sure we won't be able to keep up with them soon," Neji spoke, receiving a hesitant nod from Lee.

"I don't like to run away but looks like there's no other choice," Lee agreed much to Neji's relief.

* * *

><p>Tayuya knew for a fact that they were in trouble. The Kiba guy and his dog were still taking down Sound ninja left and right but she knew from personal experience that he was playing their game, a game she played many times back when she was in charge of her own base. It was quite simple actually, one had to simply throw many ninja at the intruder and wear them down enough to be easy picking for the stronger Sound ninja.<p>

While it was true that Sound's numbers had most likely gone down since she had last been part of them, it was pretty clear that they still had a considerable number of ninja at their disposal. The only way for the Konoha ninja to find a way out of the base alive was to have the shackle on her arm taken off and the fools to listen to her. That wouldn't happen though, the ninja in charge would never trust her enough to take off the shackle, much less listen to her.

Her eyes narrowed as she spotted the next wave of Sound ninja coming their way. There were only five coming this time which meant that the stronger ninja were about to come finish the job. The Kiba guy was already showing signs of weariness, there was no doubt in her mind that he'd get killed easily but the same would _not_ happen to her, she'd make sure of that.

_'There!'_

Kiba, having just taken down an incoming Sound ninja let out a gasp as their prisoner shot past him. Confusion showed on his face for a split second before his eyes widened in realization when watching her use her shackle to block an incoming kunai. A loud '_clang' _echoed in the hallway as the shackle broke off her wrist before she quickly ran through hand signs.

"Stop right there!" Kiba screamed as the ninja around them toppled to the ground unconscious.

Tayuya turned to face the Konoha ninja and his dog. "Don't be an idiot mutt, stronger ninja are about to come and – seeing as you look like shit – our best bet is to have _me _help _you _fight those strong ninja," she explained as a smirk spread across her face, "Well, that _would _be our best bet but I have no intention of going through with it. I couldn't give less of a shit if you got killed so I'll be going now."

"You're not going anywhere," Kiba declared as he took a fighting stance and Akamaru began to growl.

"How are you going to stop me?" Tayuya chuckled as she used a hand sign. "These idiots on the ground are unconscious because of my jutsu, which means they'll wake up if I release it," no sooner than she said that, the unconscious ninja began to get up. "Have fun!" Tayuya laughed before running off.

Kiba gritted his teeth, wanting to follow but forced to handle the Sound ninja.

* * *

><p>"That should be all of them..." Naruto trailed off as the effects of Sage Mode wore off. Now that he had his clones escorting the group of prisoners to the nearest village there was no need to remain in that state. "Better get back to Kiba," he muttered to himself as he began to run through the hallways of the Sound base.<p>

He tried not to think about it but there was something about running around these bases that always freaked him out. Maybe it was because he had first killed in one of these bases. The fact that they all looked identical always had him thinking of those moments, the faces of those ninja would always appear first.

A frown etched on his face as he pushed those thoughts aside. He had no regrets about killing those horrible men, he knew this for a fact but the memories were still there. Maybe this was how it was for everyone... Not really regretting killing them but only remembering the time when their innocence came to an abrupt end.

* * *

><p>Tayuya sped through the hallways of the Sound base with a smile on her face. After so long, she was finally free!<p>

Even though actually escaping had been way to easy to the point that she kept on looking over her shoulder just to make sure no one was following her, she was ecstatic. Nothing could bring her down! Not even that purple seal on the wall that was glowing...

She skidded to a halt, eyes wide in horror as she looked at the large glowing seal.

"Impossible, it can't be _that _seal..." she muttered in terror. "Why the hell would they have it in here?! Is this base really that important?" Tayuya balled her hands into fists, "Fuck! I don't have to tell them but _he's _going to die if I don't..."

She bit her lip as she stood glued to her spot, debating on what to do. Help them or let them die.

* * *

><p>Kiba panted as he stood over the bodies of the many Sound ninja sent his way. Thankfully, it didn't look like more would be coming as it'd been a while since the last wave appeared. Now he could focus on finding the prisoner before she got too far, he and Akamaru had her scent anyway so it shouldn't be too hard.<p>

"Hey look! He has a dog!"

Kiba's eyes widened in surprise as he turned on his heels to see two Sound ninja. One was a short girl with wild brown hair wearing the usual Sound garbs. The other was a guy with short black hair who was dressed the same but with short sleeves and black shorts.

"Shut up already," the guy groaned as he placed a hand on behind his neck, "We're probably gonna have to kill it too. It's one of those ninja dogs that bite the fuck out of you."

The girl pouted, "Why would you kill a dog?"

"I find it odd that you value an animal more than a person but then again, nothing is normal about you," the guy rolled his eyes. His colleague laughed sheepishly as a blush adorned her cheeks, making the guy sigh, "It wasn't a compliment you idiot."

Kiba frowned deeply at the exchange. It was like the two ninja didn't deem him a threat, they were acting far too relaxed. He should probably be glad that they had their guard down but his pride wouldn't let him be, it was like they were mocking him with their casual conversation.

"Hey! Hey! Can I kill him?" The girl asked excitedly as she dropped into a ready stance, her eyes lighting up in happiness.

"Fine, just don't take too long. There's other intruders too."

"Roger, roger!" The girl laughed as she skipped closer to Kiba with a wide smile on her face.

Kiba grinned in return, "I don't know who you think you are but if you think you can get rid of us so easily then you've got another thing coming."

The girl only laughed in response.

* * *

><p>Naruto gritted his teeth when hearing a loud crashing noise further down the dark hall. He sped his pace and soon found himself inside a large room with a massive snake statue but his attention was focused on the bloodied Kiba on the ground.<p>

"Kiba!" Naruto exclaimed as he prepared to run after his friend but was stopped by a ball of fire crashing in front of him, far enough not to damage him. He frowned, eyes closing in concentration before he turned to the source of the attack, meeting the gaze of a ninja with short black hair.

"Are you the one who did this?" Naruto questioned angrily.

The ninja shook his head in response, "Nah, that was a loud colleague of mine. She can be really ruthless when she wants to."

"Who are you?"

"The name's Daisuke," he replied casually as he took a few steps forward with his hands in his pockets. "And why do you look so pissed anyway? It was _you _that broke into this base. You really shouldn't have done that if you're as weak as that half-dead guy over there."

Naruto glared as his attention was turned to a girl walking towards them with a bright smile.

"Another one~" The girl giggled as she moved to stand in front of Naruto, "I'll kill him too!"

"Bad news Aiko," Daisuke spoke up, "The other guy's still alive."

Aiko pouted, "Whatever! I'll still kill this guy _then _I'll kill the other one!"

Naruto gritted his teeth in fury. These bastards were talking about lives like they were nothing. They were enemies yes, but to talk about killing people like it was some sort of game...it made him sick!

Daisuke and Aiko were taken by surprise as the blond ninja's eyes turned yellow.

"Wah! His eyes turned yellow! Hey, did you see that!" Aiko exclaimed happily.

Daisuke frowned as he watched the Konoha ninja in interest. There was something about the transformation that struck him as familiar. Yellow eyes and dark orange pigmentation...

His eyes widened in horror as he watched Aiko charge in at the Konoha ninja, "Wait! Don't go near him!"

It was too late though, faster than he had ever seen someone move, the Konoha ninja appeared in front of Akio and drove a ball of compressed air to her chest. She let out a cry as she was blown away and crashed against the room's wall, falling unconscious upon contact.

Daisuke stood frozen on the spot.

_'How the hell did someone like him get in here? Sage Mode! Fucking Sage Mode! Why the hell is a ninja like that here? Orochimaru told us only Jiraiya of the Sannin could have this power!'_

"Now..." Naruto trailed off with a glare, "I'm going to take you down!"

* * *

><p>"My Lord, it seems that Daisuke and Akio are in trouble," a ninja wearing the Sound village uniform spoke with a smirk on his face. He pushed away a few black bangs from his eyes as he turned towards his Lord.<p>

"A pity, they were most interesting..." Orochimaru spoke in amusement before raising from his seat. "Now then Kento, you being a powerful sensor ninja tell me, does Naruto's current form surpass my own?"

Kento scratched his head as a frown etched on his face, "It appears so my Lord. The corpse you are using to project yourself is not powerful enough to defeat this boy."

Orochimaru laughed in response, "Very well then. Escape this base with the data we keep hidden. We can't have them figure out our plans already can we?"

* * *

><p>Daisuke's eyes were wide with fear as he stuck to the room's ceiling, sweat trailing down his face as he tried to think up a way to defeat the enemy ninja. He bit his lip and let out a gasp as a powerful gust of wind shot at him. Brow furrowed, he planted both feet on the ceiling and prepared to brave the attack but, much to his horror, he was swatted aside like a fly before the ceiling began to collapse due to the power of the jutsu.<p>

_'Dammit, there's no way I'm going to get out of this one alive!' _Daisuke fell from the ceiling, far too tired to do anything to soften his fall. His eyes snapped shot as he neared the ground and he almost let out a whimper when feeling something grasp his ankle. Despite his fear he slowly opened his eyes to see the blond ninja holding his ankle with a glare directed at him.

"J-Just kill me already!" Daisuke snapped while feeling himself shrink under the ninja's piercing glare.

Naruto scoffed before letting the teen go and turning his back on him. "You're not like the others... No Cursed Seal or weird abilities," he turned back to the Sound ninja and crossed his arms, "Have you ever killed anyone?"

Daisuke flinched at the question. "Um...not really. We just joined Sound to make some easy money, we're actually mercenaries."

"Mercenaries that don't kill?"

"Hey! Do you think we could kill anybody?"

Naruto pointed at Kiba's fallen form.

Daisuke yelped before looking away with his arms crossed, "Yeah, so... We _were _going to fight that guy but..."

"_Huh?" Kiba let out dumbly as he gazed at the two cowering ninja in front of him. "That wasn't even a strong attack! Why the hell are you so scared?"_

_Akio glared, "Shut up! You're just crazy strong!"_

_Kiba sighed, shoulders slumping in defeat as he looked at Akamaru, "I guess we should look for the prisoner now."_

"_What prisoner would that be?"_

_Everyone turned to see a man walking towards him, his spiky black hair bouncing with each step he took. Kiba looked at the man oddly while Daisuke and Akio gulped in fear._

"_Who are you?" Kiba questioned with a frown._

"_Such behavior should not be used in someone else's home," the man smirked as he reached out with his right hand._

"_What is he doing?" Kiba muttered to himself as he watched the man close his hand. He let out a choked gasp as countless of wounds appeared throughout his body, blood splattering out of them as his bloodied body hit the ground._

_The man faced the two teens, "There's another intruder coming this way. Keep him occupied while I go speak to our Lord."_

"_Y-Yes sir!" The two ninja chorused nervously._

"So it was someone else..." Naruto muttered mostly to himself. His eyes closed in deep thought before he finally decided on something. "I'm going to get rid of the Sound ninja in this base, you two can go as long as you give me your word that you won't get in my way."

Daisuke's eyes lit up, "Yes! Thank you! Thank you! Thank you!"

Naruto rolled his eyes, "Alright just go already."

* * *

><p>Neji frowned deeply as he sat against a tree, with his byakugan active he could clearly see the many Sound ninja running around the area. With so many on the lookout for them it'd be hard to regroup with the others without getting caught. The only way he could think of that could have them regroup was to have Lee and himself go into the base. From there they could probably destroy the base and escape.<p>

"We're going to move soon Lee," he spoke to his teammate who was crouched behind a set of large bushes, "Get ready."

* * *

><p>Naruto moved through the hallways of the base in deep thought. Ever since he had a couple of clones hide Kiba in one of the rooms and guard him along with Akamaru, he realized that there was no sign of Tayuya. If she had been hurt alongside Kiba then he was sure that there would have been more signs of battle other than the puddle of blood in which Kiba lay.<p>

_'She could've escaped in the commotion,' _Naruto clenched his fists at the thought. As much as he liked Tayuya, he was sure that she wouldn't waste such a perfect opportunity. This, coupled with the powerful person that had attacked Kiba, was beginning to be too much for him to do alone.

Groups of clones were already running around the vicinity in search of help for Kiba or the runaway kunoichi but he knew better than to expect results from the latter. Not only would she be hard to find but he was sure that simple clones were no match for her. Tayuya had learned well during their spars and was more than capable to deliver the hits needed to dispel the clones.

He dismissed those thoughts and focused on the task at hand instead. Whoever had hurt Kiba like that with a single attack needed no less than his full attention.

_'Speaking of which!'_

Naruto came to a stop once finding himself in another large room though this one had no statue. There was someone standing in the shadows, probably thinking that they could catch him by surprise.

"My, my. I'm sure that the old you would have come straight into my hands... How time passes, now you're slightly more competent."

"What are you doing here Orochimaru?" Naruto asked after hearing the voice dripping with dark amusement. "I know it's one of your bases but I don't think your average base deserves your attention," he unsheathed his katana and dropped into a fighting stance, "You must have something important here."

Orochimaru chuckled darkly, "To think I once thought that the Fourth's training under Jiraiya had been a fluke. I guess my old teammate is more capable than I first thought." He smirked when seeing the ninja's stance tense up after hearing his teacher's name, "Tell me something Naruto... After your battle with Sasuke, did you ever wonder where he disappeared to?"

"Don't play games with me," Naruto scoffed, "You're obsessed with the Uchiha and their sharingan. You would have done everything in your power to make sure he was at your side."

"That's where you're wrong Naruto," Orochimaru answered with a chuckle, "Sasuke's location was a mystery to me until some time ago. I finally learned of his location all these years... Konoha."

"That's-" Naruto glared at the older man, "That's impossible. There's no way he could've been there all along!"

Orochimaru smirked, "But it is true. Your precious village holds countless of secrets, some of which could destroy its image." His voice took a more seducing tone as he continued to speak, "Should I tell you some of these secrets? Do you think you could still protect the village if you knew all of them?"

Naruto gritted his teeth as he went into Sage Mode, "Shut up already! I came here to destroy this base and everything in it, including _you_!"

The snake summoner smiled to himself when seeing the ninja's reaction. Despite having such impressive powers at such a young age he lacked true motivation. Whatever had pushed him to go so far had run out. If he only could shake his belief in the village further then...

Orochimaru chuckled darkly as the blond ninja ran at him.

**Ch.24 End**

**I didn't really proofread this chapter since I wanted to update as soon as I could to let you know that I can write again. Anyway, since every single one of the files from my old laptop is gone for good, the next chapter might not come too quickly but it should be out within the next two weeks. **


	25. Toad vs Snake

**So, just something before the chapter starts. I had a lot of trouble writing this and the next chapter because things _really _change from here on out. Not plot as much as the overall feel of the story. Anyway, here's the chapter.**

* * *

><p><strong>Naruto: Making of a Hokage<strong>

_**Sound's End Arc**_

**Ch.25 Toad vs. Snake**

They faced each other with different expressions. Orochimaru had a smirk on his face while Naruto appeared to be highly apprehensive, with good reason too since he was facing a legendary ninja. Not only that but – although very one-sided – they had fought before. Back then he hadn't landed a single hit on Orochimaru despite using every bit of his power.

Naruto's eyes hardened, hands clenching into fists as he quickly used a hand sign, "Shadow Clone Jutsu!"

Two clones appeared at his side and quickly charged in at the enemy who only smirked in response before placing both hands on the ground. Both clones were taken by surprise as snakes erupted from the ground in front of them, but they managed to avoid being hit at the last second by jumping over them. No sooner than their feet touched the ground, snakes emerged from under them and wrapped around their ankles before another set of snakes shot at them and bit down on their necks.

"Please tell me you have different tactics now," Orochimaru smirked as he watched the two clones disappear in clouds of smoke.

Naruto grit his teeth as he ran through hand signs, "Wind Style: Devastation!"

A powerful gust of wind shot out of the ninja's mouth, blowing away the snakes in the area before crashing against Orochimaru to no effect. The legendary ninja simply smirked at the attack, treating it like a simple breeze, before his head sprouted form his neck and large fangs appeared on his mouth. His head shot towards Naruto at such an incredible speed that he barely managed to dodge the attack by jumping to the nearest wall. The snake sannin was not done yet as his head followed after the blond ninja.

Naruto ran on the walls, floor, and ceiling in an effort to dodge the creepy face following after him. He leapt away one more time but Orochimaru followed once again, though this time he didn't run. Instead he placed a hand to his mouth and let out a powerful gust of air that took the legendary ninja by surprise and knocked him against one of the walls. His neck went back to its original size as he dusted off his clothes and smirked.

"Hiding your jutsu's actual power in order to catch me off-guard... I have to say you're a lot more devious than before," Orochimaru chuckled, "But don't think I'll fall for that again."

Naruto dropped down to the floor. "I know better than to take you lightly," he responded with a glare, "Clone or not."

Orochimaru chuckled at that, "So you noticed that it's not my real body. Very good Naruto. I can see now why Sasuke lost to you."

He didn't say anything in response, only prepared for what was to come.

* * *

><p>"We should be okay as long as we keep going in this direction," Neji announced to Lee who was following after him.<p>

Both were running through the forest, keeping on the ground as to not draw too much attention to themselves. As it turned out, going to the base proved to be the safest choice since the waves of Sound ninja were looking for them in the forest. Only a few were on the entrance of the base but they wouldn't be too much trouble.

He had decided on regrouping and drawing a decision from there. Naruto and Kiba hopefully had freed the prisoners, if not then another problem would add on to their current ones.

"Let's go a bit faster Lee, we're almost there!"

"Got it," Lee answered as the two increased their speed.

* * *

><p>Naruto gritted his teeth as wind surrounded his body, ruffling his hair and clothes violently as he charged in at Orochimaru who, smirked in response and placed both hands on the ground. The blond was more than prepared for what was to come and without slowing his pace let loose a set of blades of compressed wind that cut through the incoming snakes. Orochimaru had to admit that he had not been expecting that as he sidestepped a punch aimed at his face but, much to his surprise, a force crashed into his face and knocked him back several feet.<p>

Naruto frowned deeply as he stood in place, body trembling in anticipation as the older ninja got back up with a smirk despite the many cuts on the right side of his face. The blond didn't want to know the reason for the expression and was quick to follow up his attack by shooting another set of blades of wind.

Orochimaru jumped over the attack and brought a hand to his mouth, letting out powerful flames that forced Naruto to quickly jump away from the attack. The older ninja was quick to figure out the best way to counterattack the wind shroud Naruto had around himself.

"You have quite the jutsu there Naruto," Orochimaru admitted with a smirk, "The wind adds power to your punches but too bad it has such an obvious weakness to fire."

Naruto glared as he ran at Orochimaru and, just as the older ninja let loose a large fireball, he disappeared. Before the snake sannin could wonder how exactly his enemy disappeared, said enemy appeared right behind him with his fist cocked back. He could only smirk in amusement as the blond drove his fist into his back, making various deep cuts due to the wind swirling around him before he was launched away by the force behind the attack.

Orochimaru landed harshly on the ground, smirk still in place as he stood to face the ninja, "You're much too interesting Naruto. Makes me regret not chasing after you as well, maybe then you and Sasuke would be at my grasp."

"No. I would never have joined you, even at my worst," Naruto answered, eyes narrowed on the enemy, "Unlike Sasuke, I didn't let hate consume me."

"How long do you think you can last?" Orochimaru asked as one of his arms fell and rotted on the ground, "What if right now I did something to make your hate consume you? Do you think you could take it?"

Naruto remained quiet, whatever it was that Orochimaru was implying he knew that it was dangerous. Just by the tone he knew that the older ninja could actually do something horrible. Even so, something within him made him smirk.

"I'm not afraid of you Orochimaru. Whatever it is you're thinking about doing, I will stop it!"

The rest of Orochimaru's body began to rot away as a smirk spread across his face, "I look forward to seeing you try."

As the body fell to the ground Naruto clenched his fists, cursing himself for picking a fight with someone like Orochimaru. Sure, he was stronger than he was before, but that didn't mean that he could actually stand a change against someone like the snake sannin. Not even Jiraiya had beaten him from what he knew.

He sighed and pushed the thoughts away. Now that the Orochimaru clone was gone, prisoners free, and Kiba was safe, he had to try and find Tayuya.

"Shithead!"

Or not.

* * *

><p>Daisuke hid in the shadows of the forestry. Next to him was his unconscious traveling partner, Akio.<p>

"Damn, what am I gonna do now?" He wondered out loud as he watched another group of Sound ninja leaping form tree to tree.

He wanted to do as the scary guy said and get out of there, but even if he was dressed as one of the Sound ninja, most knew who he was. If he tried to leave and someone saw him he'd probably get killed for betrayal or something weird that these hardcore ninja believed in.

"Hmm..." he suddenly remembered something. "I wonder if I should have told the scary guy about the even scarier guy... Nah, it's not my problem."

* * *

><p>Neji and Lee finally entered the base after taking care of a couple of Sound ninja that stood in their way. They had been nothing special but their numbers had been a bit larger than he first thought. It didn't matter anymore though, now he had to focus on finding the others so that they could leave.<p>

"Wait Neji!"

"What is it?" Neji stopped on his tracks after hearing Lee who was looking to the side with a look of concentration before a look of panic crossed his face.

"That's Kiba!"

Neji followed Lee's gaze and saw Akamaru standing with a couple of Naruto clones next to an unconscious and bloodied Kiba.

"Good to see you guys here!" one of the clones grinned.

"What happened to Kiba?" Lee asked.

The other clone frowned, "He was attacked by someone. Boss wasn't there but thinks that a clone of Orochimaru did it.

"A clone of Orochimaru?!" Neji repeated in shock.

The grinning clone waved him off, "Don't worry. Boss is probably taking care of him right now."

"Then we have to help him!" Lee declared.

"But what about Kiba?" Neji argued with a troubled expression, "Let regroup for now. We'll get the clones to tell us where Naruto went and take Kiba with us, we'll come up with what to do next after we're all together."

The group nodded in response.

* * *

><p>"Tayuya! What are you doing here?" Naruto asked as soon as he saw the former Sound ninja at the entrance of the large room.<p>

"There's no time to explain Shithead, we have to get the fuck out of here!" Tayuya replied in a panicked voice.

He frowned in response, "Why? What's wrong?"

"I just told you there's no time to explain! Just trust me when I say that we can't stay here too long!"

Naruto didn't like to do things too drastically but something about the panic in Tayuya's voice told him that he should listen to her now and ask questions later.

"Okay, let's get out of here," he answered much to her relief but it was short-lived as the rest of the Konoha ninja arrived, clones and all.

"Naruto! There you are!" Neji was the first to speak as the group came over to him, "What happened to the Orochimaru clone?"

Naruto visually relaxed when seeing that Kiba was with them. He sent a quick message to the clones looking for help to dispel but once they did he got no good news since they had been forced to hide from the many Sound ninja in the area. A frown etched on his face as he faced Neji and answered his question.

"I already took care of it. The clone wasn't as strong as I thought, he's probably been using it for a long time but that doesn't matter right now," he answered, "We have to get out of here. I've already freed the prisoners and have clones escorting them back so there's nothing else to do here."

"Fine," Neji nodded, seeing that impatient look on Naruto and the prisoner who he just noticed was not wearing her shackle, "What happened to her shackle?"

"That doesn't matter right now!" Tayuya exclaimed, "We have to get the fuck out of here already! We've spent too much time here!"

"She's right, let's go," Naruto agreed as he and the group ran for the exit. He created a few more clones as they ran, tasking them with setting up explosives on the base so that they could destroy it on the way out.

Neji frowned as they ran through the large hallways of the base. Their course of action was clear but the Sound ninja were still out there, meaning that they should probably hide somewhere and wait them out, but they could also just run past them and fight whoever got on their way. It was probably the worst choice of the two but Kiba needed medical attention and they didn't have time to waste.

"Naruto, there's a lot of Sound ninja out there looking for us," Neji decided to let the blond know as he was a fellow Jonin. "I'd like to hear what you think we should do," it couldn't hurt to have a second opinion on the matter after all.

Naruto put on a thoughtful look, "We should probably blow up this base but the tags won't work if we're too far away... I say you guys run to the nearest village and get Kiba looked at while I stay behind for a few minutes to make sure the base is destroyed. I'm not the one in charge though so I'll go along with whatever you think is right." He grinned, "You're a smart guy so I trust you."

"Very well then," Neji answered with a grin, "Let's go with your plan. There's a village South of here, that's where we'll regroup."

"Sound great," Naruto answered as the group continued to move through the large hallways of the base.

* * *

><p>The research date was safely stored away inside a snake now. Orochimaru would be most pleased with the news though he didn't fully understand why he didn't let him take care of the intruders.<p>

He shrugged in response, figuring that it wasn't wise to question his Lord's motives.

"_I have a new assignment for you."_

"Lord Orochimaru!" The Sound ninja closed his eyes to concentrate on the message.

Orochimaru had found a way to communicate with those that had the Curse Seal. It was highly useful as it allowed for him to give out missions from long distances without the use of written messages that might be intercepted.

"_Something has come up and I want you to kill the Konoha ninja that infiltrated the base. They should be no match for you."_

The Sound ninja smirked, "As you wish Lord Orochimaru."

**Ch.25 End**


	26. Cruel Reality

**Naruto: Making of a Hokage**

_**Sound's End Arc**_

**Ch.26 Cruel Reality**

Neji, Lee, and Tayuya jumped from tree to tree with a couple of Naruto clones following after them with an unconscious Kiba.

A few moments ago Naruto had stayed behind in order to make sure that the base was destroyed while Neji led the team to the nearest village to seek medical aid for Kiba. Thanks to the Byakugan, they avoided the groups of Sound ninja still searching for them. If things remained that way then they could get Kiba the help he needed.

"Hmm..." Neji narrowed his eyes on the area up ahead. Groups of Sound ninja were sitting in a clearing, probably taking a break from their search. The way they were spread out left little room for them to slip by unnoticed so he changed directions to an open area of the forest that had a single person walking. Since it was just one person then they wouldn't have much trouble since they had the advantage in numbers. He could also go around but that would waste time Kiba did not have.

With that in mind he sped his pace in the direction of the unwatched part of the forest.

* * *

><p>Ino, Sakura, and Shino moved through the trees surrounding Konoha. They had just been gathered for a mission in the Sand Village. It was a C-Rank but because it could become more dangerous due to the resent Akatsuki activity, they were chosen for the mission instead of the usual Genin team.<p>

Ino was a bit torn on taking this mission. On one hand she could take a break from the Flower Shop but on the other, she probably wouldn't be there when Naruto returned.

Sakura smiled when seeing the pout on her friend's face, "Don't worry Ino, we'll probably be done with the mission quickly so that you can go back to Naruto."

"Shut up Forehead," she rolled her eyes, not missing the teasing tone in Sakura's voice, but laughed nonetheless. She was still a kunoichi of the Leaf so she had to take herself a bit more seriously when it came to missions.

* * *

><p>Naruto was leaning against a tree when the memories of the clones finally hit him. They were finally done setting up the explosive tags and while it took a lot more time than he first thought, it was great to finally be done with the mission.<p>

Without a word he made the appropriate hand seal and the whole base went up in flames causing powerful shockwaves to rock the area. He shielded his eyes from the debris before jumping up a nearby tree.

_'I'm finally done with his mission that was a lot more taxing than I thought,' _he let out a breath, stretched his arms over his head, and began to make his way South of the base.

All he had to do now was regroup with his friends and -

He landed on a tree branch with an unreadable expression on his face, his eyes shadowed by his hair. Memories from the two clones with Neji and the others had just gotten to him...

With the same unreadable expression he jumped at the nearest tree branch in order to make his way South, where the group had gone.

...

The reality of the world they lived in had never struck.

There were many times when he felt threatened but something on the back of his mind always believed everything would be okay in the end. And why shouldn't it think that? His missions, despite being dangerous, never went _wrong._

He always came back to the village safe and sound.

...

How should he even react? The memories were not even his own. A large part of him thought that it wasn't even real, that he had to see it himself to believe it. Right now he felt nothing, he was numb. The memories were not his so there was a possibility of them not being real.

Ah...

He finally felt something...

A stabbing pain struck his chest as he passed by..._him._

The lifeless body, covered in blood with the eyes still open. The body of a great ninja and an even better friend.

_The group came to a halt before a single Sound ninja standing in a large clearing. _

"_Hey, Konoha shinobi..." the ninja began in an amused voice, "Do you want to see my power?"_

_With that said the ninja made a single hand seal, dark purple chakra exploding around him as his body began to grow in size before the group of Konoha ninja._

_Neji was the first to react, having seen the amount of chakra coursing through the man's growing body he knew that he was dangerous, "Quickly! Let's leave while he's busy!"_

_The group listened and was on the run in a matter of seconds, Tayuya holding a look of horror on her face._

_They could feel the chakra exploding behind them before it disappeared and, without a single warning, a massive hand drove Neji into the ground, kicking up a cloud of debris._

Naruto said nothing as he passed by the crater in which Neji's lifeless body lay.

His face remained unreadable as he passed by the next one...another good friend.

"_Neji!" Lee cried out in terror as the massive creature with dark purple skin turned its attention to them. _

"_Run you fucking idiot!" Tayuya screamed but to no avail as one of the clones was crushed under the creature's giant fist...the clone carrying Kiba to be exact. The next clone was soon to follow._

Kiba's body was a bloody mess, bones sticking out in several places, but he turned away from it and continued to move.

He could feel something now...

Now that he realized the memories were real he finally felt _it. _After years without _it. _He felt _it._

_'This is all my fault... Kiba still had time! We could have waited!'_

_'If we had all stuck together I could have helped. I'm sure we would have won if I was there!'_

Naruto gritted his teeth, tears stinging his red eyes when he finally saw the _thing. _They weren't tears of sadness, not yet, these were tears of hatred, of pure uncontrolled rage.

_'I'll kill him! I will absolutely murder him! I'll destroy him until there's nothing left!'_

The hulking monster turned away from the two ninja standing in front of him to see someone approaching with blue chakra flaring around his body.

"I'll kill you!" Naruto roared as he ran at the monster, red eyes blazing in fury.

The ninja inside the monster smirked. Another ninja to kill, how should he go about this one though. He chuckled as he punched at the incoming ninja only for him to disappear the moment his fist got close enough.

"Drilling Fist!" Naruto roared as he appeared before the monster and drove his fist into its chest causing it to cry out in pain as the fist dug into its body but Naruto wasn't done and formed a Rasengan on his left hand before driving it into the monster's chest as well, causing it to screech in pain.

"Not yet! Not yet! Not yet! I'll kill you! I'll kill you!" Naruto roared as three clones appeared at his sides, all holding a Rasengan which they quickly drove into the monster as well.

The man from within the hulking monster spat out blood before swatting the ninja and his clones away with a hand. He panted wearily as he watched the ninja crash against a tree but get back up almost instantly and charge in at him once again.

"Giant Rasengan!" Naruto screamed as a massive Rasengan formed on his hand.

The monster quickly sidestepped the attack before lashing out with a kick that made Naruto cough up blood before being sent hurling through the air. He gritted his teeth as he adjusted his body in order to face the monster once again, finally getting a good look at it.

It had a dark purple body, muscular arms and legs, as well as long black hair. The most noticeable thing on its body were the various bloody wounds on its chest.

Naruto smirked at that before turning his body away from the monster and putting a hand to his lips, "Wind Style: Devastation!" The power behind the gust of wind shot him straight at the monster that did not have time to react as he rammed a Giant Rasegan into its chest, drawing an anguished screech. Next he reached into his vest and pulled out as many explosive tags as he could before stabbing them into one of the gaping wounds on its chest.

The monster roared as it swatted Naruto aside once again but he simply smirked as he crashed on the ground and made the appropriate hand seal.

* * *

><p>Tayuya had been a second away from dying when a furious Naruto entered the fray with vicious attacks that rivaled that of the monster's. Soon the two were gone from the area, leaving her alone with a panting Lee who had fought the monster with taijutsu only to lose quickly as he had been to devastated over the death of his teammate.<p>

She could understand why he felt that way. To have someone you were close to die so suddenly was sure to leave you scarred.

This monster of a 'human' did not know this. He killed just to kill. Tayuya had seen this show of _sadistic _enjoyment for killing once before and that was when Orochimaru had first introduced the Sound Four to this brutish beast.

When she saw the seals in the base she knew it was him. He was the only one who would use the seal to monitor everything in the base, not even Orochimaru showed such dedication for a single base.

Tayuya was violently brought out of her inner musings when an explosion rocked the area, kicking up flames, shockwaves, and a massive cloud of debris.

She gritted her teeth as she shielded her eyes from the debris, "What the hell are you doing Shithead? You should run."

* * *

><p>Naruto panted while standing atop a tree. He had used chakra like an idiot making for lousy control and a big blow to his reserves. He probably wouldn't even be able to make it back home due to how low his chakra reserves were.<p>

A trail of sweat ran down his face as he noticed a shadow in the debris. His eyes hardened immediately, murderous rage building up again when he saw a man with black hair crawl out of the debris, one of his legs was missing and he was covered in wounds but...it was not enough to satisfy Naruto's thirst for blood.

Naruto jumped down the tree and approached the fallen man with a cold expression on his face.

The man laughed before falling on his back, "Damn! You're pretty strong Konoha shinobi! I had no idea you guys could actually be strong."

Red eyes narrowed on the laughing man. He didn't have access to the Kyuubi's chakra anymore, this was the first time he felt something coming from it in years. Before it was chakra mixed with hatred but now it was just pure hatred.

"Hey shinobi, are you going to kill me?" The man laughed before shaking his head, "That would make you just like me so do it. Come on, one of the weaklings I killed was a friend of yours, right? Wouldn't it make sense to kill me then?"

Naruto's eyes widened in realization, his blood running cold as he remembered something he had heard only moments ago.

_'What if right now I did something to make your hate consume you? Do you think you could take it?'_

So it had really been his fault.

They would have gotten back to Konoha safe and sound were it not for his mouthing off to someone like Orochimaru.

It was all his fault but...

He glared at the fallen Sound ninja.

No!

It was _his _fault! _He _was the one that killed them in cold blood.

"I'll..." Naruto trailed off as he unsheathed his katana, "I'll kill you."

The man laughed in response.

**Ch.26 End**

**I know it happened very suddenly but that's how death is, unexpected. When I first planned on having them die I really thought it would be easy to just write them being killed but when I was actually writing the scene I felt like shit. **

**Anyway, ****I'm going to be starting a side story to this one focusing on Fu. I think it's necessary since adding her important parts in this story would affect the flow of it.**


	27. Defeat

**Naruto: Making of a Hokage**

_**Sound's End Arc**_

**Ch.27 Defeat**

"Naruto?"

The Konoha ninja said nothing as he approached the two remaining members of the team sent to the Sound base. It was only a worn down Lee and Tayuya that stood before him, both clearly affected by what had happened.

Lee's face held terror, his whole body trembling uncontrollably. Tayuya, despite not being close or acquainted with their fallen comrades, was very visually shaken.

"We'll get their bodies and take them back home," Naruto spoke, knowing that he had to be strong now. "Lee... stay here and keep a look out, we'll be back shortly." With that the blond turned to leave, "Let's go Tayuya."

The former Sound ninja didn't have time to respond as Naruto was already off. Despite being a bit taken off-guard by his sudden leave, she followed after him though not before throwing Lee a glance. Even if she did not know him well she could relate to him. The look on his face was one she was sure she had years ago, back when her training first began. Only the strong survived the various tests of power Orochimaru gave them.

She shook her head, not wanting to think about it. Her current predicament was horrible enough.

* * *

><p>He couldn't do anything...<p>

Not when he watched his teammate crushed by a giant fist. And not when the unconscious Kiba was crushed to death...

Lee's body had been on autopilot after that. He had fought the monster as unwanted thoughts invaded his mind. To no surprise, he only managed to dodge a few punches and _try _to counterattack. It didn't take him long to realize that the monster would kill him if the fight continued.

Luckily Naruto had arrived at the scene soon after.

"Why?" Hands balled into fists as tears cascaded down Lee's face. He had been sure that the mission was over but then everything went horribly wrong.

Neji had been his rival. He had been _so _strong. A prodigy! Someone who he could not surpass even with years of training.

When they first met Lee wanted to prove that hard work could defeat a genius. That's why for a long time his days ranged from training his butt off to going on missions. This began to change when his team began to go out just to pass the time. It was then that he noticed that, despite having been put off by the Hyuuga's attitude in the beginning, some sort of bond was growing between them.

Soon they became friends though it did not mean he stopped his pursuit of defeating him one day. But Neji was invincible and won every single challenge thrown at him without much effort. It was like he could never be defeated.

But...

Neji was dead.

In the end their training served no purpose. A prodigy and a hard worker were both just as likely to die in a matter of seconds. Their training, struggles, bonds, and experiences did not matter when their opponent was a monster.

The abrupt end of his friend's life had broken him but what happened afterward destroyed the vision he had of himself.

Lee's lips quivered, his emotions getting the best of him.

Back when they were running from the monster after it had killed Neji, Lee had been scared. If a monster like that could kill Neji then it would kill him too. His blood had ran cold when the monster began to chase after them, he was sure that he would die but...it turned its attention to the clone carrying the unconscious Kiba.

In that moment Lee had been _relieved._

_He _had not died. Someone else did. It made him happy. He was lucky and would continue to live.

Once he realized what he was thinking Lee was petrified. At one point in time he had thought that he would always fight and risk his life for the sake of his friends. To have that proven wrong so harshly made him sick to his stomach.

Lee gritted his teeth as he leaned against a tree for support. His eyes were teary and his mouth tasted like vomit. A whimper escaped his lips as he drew a deep breath and leaned his forehead against the tree.

For the first time in his life he had experience the reality of the world they lived in, not the made up world he had deluded himself into believing. A world where you went on missions, got stronger, and went back home with your friends safe and sound. A perfect world.

Lee swallowed and wondered why he became a ninja if he never even thought of what it could take from him.

* * *

><p>Naruto kept his mind occupied as his eyes scanned the area. There were many Sound ninja still around, most of them probably wanting to avenge those that undoubtedly died in the explosion, so he could not be too careful. Their best course of action would be to flee as soon as possible and avoid any sort of confrontation but he knew better. There was no way they could make it far in their current condition.<p>

"Hey Shithead they're almost done," Tayuya pointed out, referring to the clones retrieving the bodies of the fallen Leaf ninja. She received a grunt in response, making her sigh. "Listen, you should not let this get the best of you. Remember that this is was what you signed up for. Every single thing you've ever learned up to this point hasn't been to show off to your friends but to _kill_." Her expression was downcast as she spoke, "This is the world we live in. Hundreds of ninja die every single day, it was inevitable that you would lose someone you know eventually."

Naruto's shoulders dropped as the scuffling behind him seized, the two clones he had made a few minutes ago were standing behind him. On their arms were the bodies of Neji and Kiba, badly held together with ninja wire in their haste, blankets covering their bodies.

"Tayuya..." he trailed off with a far off look in his eyes. "You talk like you've been through this before so let me ask you; how do you get over this? Right now I don't even know how I should feel, it's so fucking sudden that I don't even know what to do."

"You won't ever fully get over it, at least I never have," Tayuya explained with a hint of sadness, "I've had a few people close to me die before, back in my first days with Sound. The snake bastard had a bunch of us with odd abilities grow and bond together until the day came for him to pick those he deemed worthy. Most of the people I bonded with were killed right before my eyes. To this day I feel like I could've done something for them."

"Then-"

"But," Tayuya interrupted, "Even if you can't get over this, it doesn't mean that you won't move on. Just remember the things they stood for, their dreams, and grow stronger for them. I'm not saying that you should burden yourself with their wishes, but to become someone that they would respect."

Naruto remained quiet for a few moments before giving her and odd look, "Thank you but you were talking all over the place. I could barely understand what you wanted to say, have you ever tried to cheer someone up before?"

Tayuya clicked her tongue, "Shut up Shithead! You should be grateful I fucking tried to pull your head out of your ass!"

Both shared a brief smile, glad to have a bit of their usual banter.

"We should get going," Naruto announced but not before giving Tayuya an appreciative smile, "Thank you for trying to make me feel better. I'll remember what you said."

Tayuya smiled softly as she and Naruto began to move, the clones following behind them.

* * *

><p>A few minutes later Naruto and Tayuya regrouped with Lee whose state of despair brought them back to their current situation. While both felt a bit better, they were far from their normal selves. Tayuya, despite not being too fond of the two dead ninja, was still a bit shaken by the brutal way in which their lives were taken. Naruto kept everything bottled up in order to keep himself from being too distraught to lead the team.<p>

Hatred was still entering his system and for the fist time in his life, he welcomed it.

Why wouldn't he? It was one of the things that kept him leveled to some degree at the moment. He knew that he would probably regret it later but even still, he did nothing to stop it.

He was broken out of his thoughts when his trained ears caught the sound of something getting closer from their right side. Panic showed on his face as he looked around for some sort of thing they could use to get away.

"Dammit, let's move!" He ordered as they began to run from the area though they couldn't even climb a tree in their current state.

The sound came closer and closer with each passing second and his mind came up blank.

"Shithead, we're gonna die soon if we don't do anything!"

"I know!" Naruto shot back before gritting his teeth, "But fighting them would be suicide, we're in their territory and even if we beat the ninja approaching us by some sort of miracle, we won't have enough energy to run or hide from the others."

His brow furrowed as he tried to think of something, _anything. _

_'Just think for a fucking second!' _

An explosion suddenly went off before their eyes, destroying several trees in their vicinity.

_'Hurry up and think! That bastard is gonna catch up to us in no time. We're going to die if we try to fight, not just that but I don't have the chakra to do anything significant. Dammit! If only I had the time to...' _Horror spread through his face as he came to a realization.

His swallowed a lump in his throat as he glanced over his shoulder to see the clones following behind them, both about to burst due to the low level of chakra with which they were made. Right now he could not afford to waste even the smallest amount of chakra, not even a new clone could be spared.

Another explosion rocked the area, this one just a few feet away from them.

Their only chance at survival was for him to use Sage Mode, not for fighting but to give himself enough power to flee since it would not last more than a few seconds in his current state.

_'Dammit!'_

A clone would need to be motionless and then disappear, which meant that it would need some sort of distraction in order to go into Sage Mode. Time was of the essence and they could not afford to be slowed down...

Naruto glanced over his shoulder once again to see a Sound ninja approaching them at a fast speed. His heart beat wildly against his chest as he finally made his decision.

Without a word of warning, Naruto took hold of his teammate's arms with each hand just as one of his clones dropped one of the bodies before sitting in the lotus position. Lee cried out in horror as the other clone dropped the other body and ran at the Sound ninja.

"N-Naruto!" Lee let out, not able to tear his gaze away from Neji's lifeless body sprawled over the ground at an odd angle.

Naruto's eyes narrowed as the first clone was destroyed, his heart beating rapidly as the Sound ninja grew closer. He gritted his teeth before the other clone dismissed itself.

Lee struggled against Naruto's hold but it tightened as his eyes turned yellow. With the new source of chakra, Naruto quickly put as much as he could into a jump that would hopefully give them considerable ground. The Sound ninja behind them gained on them, pulling out a pair of kunai with explosive tags.

Naruto gritted his teeth as he made the jump, causing them to shoot through the forest at a speed so great that Tayuya's and Lee's bodies were pulled like rag dolls. The pursuing Sound ninja cursed loudly as he watched the targets disappear into the forest.

* * *

><p>A loud crash echoed in the otherwise peaceful forest due to Naruto, Tayuya, and Lee crash landing on the ground. Groans of pain came from the three as they all looked at their own injuries. Lee winced in pain, knowing for a fact that a few of his ribs were broken, Tayuya's main source of pain came from her left hand which had a very clearly broken wrist, and Naruto had a broken right arm with blood flowing freely from some deep gashes.<p>

Naruto struggled to get up but was instantly pinned down as an enraged Lee's foot stomped on his back.

"You left them behind! How could you do that?! Weren't they your friends?! We've known each other for so long but you still tossed them aside!" Lee roared in rage as he put more pressure on Naruto's back, causing him to cry out in pain as he was partly laying under his broken arm.

"Leave him the fuck alone!" Tayuya cried out as she tackled Lee to the ground, crying out in pain as her left hand moved brusquely.

"E-Enough!" Naruto exclaimed as he rose to his feet, his right arm dangling at his side. "We're still in danger. Those Sound ninja could still catch up, I put a few miles between us so let's get moving already."

Lee glared at the blond, "You have no right to give orders! You deserted your friends! You did nothing even though you were there! You-"

"They were dead!" Naruto screamed in anger, "What the hell were we supposed to do? If we tried to take them with us then we would've died! It was either us or their bodies! Do you think bringin them with us would bring them back to life?"

Lee clenched his fists as tears stung his eyes.

"I did what needed to be done so that we could survive. Do you think they would've wanted us to die because they dragged us down?" Naruto breathed heavily before turning forward, "Let's get moving. We'll keep close to the trees to hopefully avoid being seen."

No words were spoken as the three began to walk through the woods.

* * *

><p>It was dark as the three ninja limped their way through the very dark forest. They needed medical attention and it wasn't until now that Naruto realized that not bringing more than one ninja that knew medical jutsu to the mission was pretty stupid. His face held disdain as he looked around the area but saw nothing more than trees.<p>

"We need to find shelter," he stated bluntly, breaking the silence that had gone on for hours.

"Where? We won't find anything in this darkness. I think we should keep on walking," Tayuya answered in an irritated voice, no doubt due to her injuries and exhaustion.

Naruto let out a sigh, wincing slightly from a pain in his abdomen, "No. if we keep on walking then we'll end up fainting somewhere. We should use our last bit or energy to find a safe place to rest."

The former Sound ninja shrugged her shoulders, far too tired to argue.

"Alright then..." Naruto trailed off as a cold breeze washed over them, the scent of moist ground hitting his nose. He closed his weary eyes for a second before looking around the area once again to no avail. "Let's just keep on walking, we'll hopefully find something later," he decided with a downcast expression.

Why did it matter if they found shelter or not? He _knew _it was the right course of action but he just couldn't work up the drive to go through with it. His whole body was so sore that each step hurt more than the last one, not to mention that his badly wounded arm was still throbbing in pain; he wanted nothing more than to just fall over somewhere and rest.

He briefly wondered if they their mission would be seen as a success. Of course not, their comrades had died after all but then again, they did complete the mission before it happened. He continued to think of random things in order to keep himself from losing consciousness.

Naruto sighed in sadness as something occurred to him, _'Am I gonna have to tell their families? No, there's probably people that do that...but I'll have to tell Granny about it and she'll ask me a bunch of questions...'_

Why did he want to go back to the village again?

Nothing but pain waited for him there. He would need to relive the loss of Neji and Kiba every single day. His friends would probably blame him for it, even Hinata would hate him for causing her cousin's death.

He let out a long sigh as they continued to walk aimlessly through the dark forest.

"Found you."

The three ninja froze instantly as they turned around slowly to see a Sound ninja standing before them, wearing the armor of an ANBU member.

"You three look like shit... I don't think you'll put up a good fight but trust me when I say that I will enjoy this regardless," the Sound ninja grinned.

**Ch. 27 End**

**Sorry for taking so long to update but I've been a lot busier than I expected. Anyway, I should have the Fu side story up in a few days and I'll try to update this soon as well, I don't have an idea of when exactly I'll be able to update but I'll try not to take too long.**


	28. The Return

**Yes you're not seeing things, I updated again. **

**The first chapter of the Fu side story is out, if you're interested check it out. Anyway, after I finished writing it I just felt like writing the next chapter to this one as fast as possible. So here it is and I hope you like it.**

* * *

><p><strong>Naruto: Making of a Hokage<strong>

_**Sound's End Arc**_

**Ch.28 The Return  
><strong>

Just when he thought things couldn't get any worse this had to happen. Naruto didn't dare to move as the Sound ninja looked at them with a smirk on his face. He gritted his teeth, eyes darting to his teammates who appeared to be just as terrified as he was.

_'What do we do?'_

Not for the first time, Naruto's mind came up blank. All of them were close to falling over from exhaustion. Like a fool, he had thrown his chakra around unnecessarily when fighting the monster that killed his teammate, he was truly an idiot for giving in to a fit of fury when he had people depending on him.

He bit his lip, fists tightening, and muscles tensing in anticipation. Maybe he could get the jump on the Sound ninja and give his teammates enough time to escape... Yes, that sounded like the only way to make sure _they _didn't die.

"Hey don't get any funny ideas Konoha ninja," the Sound ninja's eyes lit up in glee. "There's no way you can hope to hurt me but, seeing as I've lived this long due to never underestimating my opponent..." he made a very familiar hand seal before placing a hand to his lips.

"Shit!" Naruto cried out as the ninja let out a powerful gust of air that threw them in different directions. The blond crashed against a tree before landing on his broken arm. He let out a scream of pain as he nursed his arm.

The Sound ninja watched the scene in amusement before moving towards the closest ninja, one wearing an odd green jumpsuit.

"Wait you bastard! Fight me first!" Naruto snarled as he tried to get up, only for his legs to buckle under his weight and make him fall face first on the ground.

"I see you care for your comrades. Very well, I'll kill them first," the Sound ninja laughed as he stood before Lee. "You know, many of my students were killed by your explosion," his expression darkened as he glared at Naruto, "That's why I won't show you even the slightest bit of mercy. I will kill you all like dogs."

Lee groaned in pain as he struggled to get up only to be kicked on his broken ribs, making him cry out in pain. He tried to clutch his side but couldn't as he was pulled up by the hair before being thrown against a tree. The impact from Lee's head against the tree echoed in the area before the ninja fell limply on the ground, clearly unconscious.

Naruto whimpered when seeing the amount of blood dripping form the tree.

"Now, where's the girl?"

"Dammit..." Naruto growled as he glared at the man, "Fight me you fucking coward!"

The Sound ninja chuckled, "As if. Look at yourself, you can't even stand up." He smirked when finding what he was looking for, a near unconscious Tayuya squirming on the ground, "Hey! I found her!"

"Wait-!" Naruto suddenly doubled over in pain with a scream, his abdomen feeling as if it were on fire. He drew in a raspy breath as he watched the man kneel before Tayuya and grip her throat tightly, "Leave her alone!"

Tears gathered at the corner of his eyes as he watched Tayuya fight weakly against the hold on her neck. He bit his lip as the pain on his abdomen intensified but he couldn't look away from what was happening; his stomach convulsed painfully, drawing a gasp from Naruto who felt as if his stomach wanted to turn inside out.

At the same time Tayuya was fighting for her life. She gripped the man's hands in a weak attempt to free herself, only for him to smirk and apply more force.

Naruto gritted his teeth, he remembered the deaths of Neji and Kiba, how he'd been unable to do anything for them. It was happening again, his friends were going to die again and he was powerless to stop them.

_'Why?' _Tears cascaded down his face, _'I trained so hard for three years... Why can't I do anything now?! Why do my friends have to die? Why couldn't I save them? Neji and Kiba...they didn't deserve that!'_

The pain in his abdomen made him gurgle in pain as a wave of hatred entered his system, making him snarl at the Sound ninja.

_'No!'_

He struggled to lift himself off the ground with his shaky arms.

_'I won't let them die! I'll murder that bastard before it happens!' _

Images of Neji's and Kiba's deaths entered his mind as he slowly pushed himself up.

_'I'll rip him apart until there's nothing left of him!'_

He closed his eyes in pain as he got in a kneeling position.

_'I...'_

His eyes snapped open, burning a deep red as he slowly got in a standing position, arms dangling at his sides.

"I... I'll kill him," Naruto snarled as blood dripped from his mouth. He set his eyes on the Sound ninja, glaring at him in fury, "I'll kill you!"

An explosion of chakra rocked the area as a crimson red beam made up of malevolent chakra pierced the skies. The wind picked up harshly on the forest, kicking up clouds of debris that forced the Sound ninja to let the girl go and shield his eyes.

"What the hell is this?!" The Sound ninja cried out.

* * *

><p>Orochimaru smirked. It was impossible to miss the amount of demonic chakra that had suddenly appeared despite him being several miles away from his former base.<p>

"It seems that you were consumed by hatred after all, Naruto."

* * *

><p>As the debris cleared out, the Sound ninja could finally see something, something that made him gasp in fear.<p>

In place of the blond ninja was a giant fox with five tails, it's body appearing to be made of the same crimson chakra from a moment ago with many white seals around its body. He didn't have time to think about what they could mean as the demon fox let out an ear-splitting roar that created a powerful shock wave that almost sent the ninja flying back along with the unconscious ninja.

The demon fox turned to the Sound ninja, stepping forward as the ground beneath its feet was scorched by the demonic chakra.

"W-Wha-!"

He was cut off as one of the tails crashed down on his body, kicking up a cloud of debris but not killing him. The Sound ninja was left a bloody mess as the demon fox advanced on him before lifting a hand over him and crushing his body.

_'More!'_

The demon fox turned its head in the direction in which it sensed several groups of chakra moving towards it.

_'There's still more... **I'll kill them!**'_

The demon let out another roar that rocked the area before rushing towards the incoming chakra signatures. Trees were knocked aside as the red blur shot through the forest, finally out of its cage.

* * *

><p>After exchanging information with various of his spies, Jiraiya was led to a vast forest that had one of the larger bases of Orochimaru. He had been watching over the place quietly before something came up and he had to meet with the Toads for a few hours, when he got back it appeared that something went horribly wrong.<p>

_'I didn't think this would happen though,' _he lamented as he sped through the trees as fast as he could. He had felt the demonic chakra from earlier, the same he had felt years ago. _'Naruto doesn't have the key to open his seal, something horrible must have happened to have the Kyuubi force its way out of the new seals.'_

The Toad Sage tried to go a little faster. Naruto, the closest thing he had to a grandson, was in danger and he would do everything in his power to make sure he was okay. The master was supposed to die before the student, and he'd be damned if he let it be the other way around again.

* * *

><p>The group of Sound ninja were blindsided as a red blur crushed two of their ninja on the ground. Blood splattered from the demon's paws as it swung its tails at another three ninja with such force that their swing created shock waves.<p>

"Retreat!" One of the Sound ninja cried out in terror before being caught by one of the demon's hands. "Let me go!" The ninja screamed at the top of his lungs as the demon fox opened its mouth to swallow him whole.

Another ninja tried to run to his comrade but was smacked aside by one of the tails before crashing on a nearby hill. The remaining ninja bolted from the area as the demon fox swallowed the Sound ninja on its grasp, the demonic chakra dissolving his body as soon as he entered its mouth.

The demon fox roared as it produced a sixth tail, its body growing in size and a skeleton beginning to appear on top of its body. Its tails swung wildly as it quickly pinpointed the fleeing Sound ninja and caught up to them in a matter of seconds.

* * *

><p>Tayuya coughed violently while resting against a tree. She could see Lee from where she was and knew that he needed medical attention as soon as possible. There was nothing she could do though, she simply did not have the strength to do anything for him, not only that but it would probably be better if she didn't move him.<p>

Her eyes strayed down the path of destruction to her right. Trees were uprooted, and there were many craters in the direction where the _thing _Naruto had turned into had run off.

She looked down, worry on her face, "Don't let it control you Naruto."

* * *

><p>The first thing Jiraiya noticed was the destruction the Kyuubi had left on its path, the second were the crushed bodies of Sound ninja. More and more appeared the closer he got to the demonic roars. Even still, the thing that stuck out the most was the fact that he hadn't seen any other Leaf ninja.<p>

He was sure that he would've run into one by now. "Let's just hope they're all okay," he muttered to himself as he finally saw the Kyuubi and, to his horror, its six tails.

* * *

><p>"They're dead..." Naruto muttered while floating on the flooding sewers of his inner world. Everything was breaking apart, water coming from all sides as the Kyuubi grew impatient in its cage.<p>

"**That's right Naruto. This all happened because you refused to use my power. You're friends would be alive had you not been so stubborn,**" the Kyuubi pointed out from its cage.

Clouded blue eyes half-closed as the blond nodded.

"**Let me out. Just pull the seal off and I can kill every single Sound ninja,**" the fox smirked, "**You have my word that no harm will come to your friends. So let me out. Don't prolong the inevitable.**"

His body was pulled toward the seal by an invisible force as the Kyuubi watched on with a smirk on his face.

"**You will feel no more pain. You will be at peace. No one else will have to die,**" the Kyuubi chose his words carefully, he had waited for this moment for years and he would not be hasty now.

_'That's right, I'll do it... I promised to protect everyone but they're all dead. I...failed.' _

They Kyuubi found himself able to influence the brat once again, not control him but heavily influence his emotions. The demon fox focused all of his negativity on the blond, not all at once but by small quantities, that way he would think the emotions were his own.

_'There's no reason for me to be alive, I failed... It's my fault that everyone died, if I had just used the Kyuubi then none of this would have happened,' _he began to pull on the seal.

The Kyuubi could hardly contain his smirk, freedom was so close he could almost feel the wind on his fur.

_'The Kyuubi will take care of everything, I don't have to do anything anymore... I can rest._

As part of the seal began to peel off his hand suddenly stopped. His eyes widened slightly as he tried to pull the seal off but his hand would not move.

"What... Why am I stopping?"

"_Hurry back, Naruto."_

"Ino," he recalled her voice, her words before he left on his mission to sound.

She was waiting for him. If he didn't come back then she would be hurt, then he wouldn't be able to protect her anymore.

He would not see her ever again.

His eyes widened in realization of what he was doing and quickly pulled his hand away from the seal. The Kyuubi roared in rage as Naruto made sense of what was going on.

"What am I doing?" He asked himself as he looked around the sewers in wonder before his eyes landed on the Kyuubi.

"**Let me out of this cage you brat!**"

Naruto bowed his head slightly, "I'm not really sure about what happened but...you saved me from being killed didn't you?"

The Kyuubi clicked his tongue, "**Don't think so highly of yourself. My only goal was to break out of this prison."**

"Even so, you ended up saving me one way or the other so..." he looked up and grinned weakly, "Thank you Kyuubi. I'll return the favor some day."

"**If that is what you wish then free me.**"

Naruto chuckled, "Don't be a smartass, I'll return the favor in some other way. I kinda need my body after all."

The Kyuubi growled as the blond gave him a nod before leaving, the water in the sewers returning to their normal level.

"**I will get out of here! Naruto!**"

* * *

><p>Jiraiya had been fully prepared to fight the fox but to his utter confusion it had stopped moving for some time now. After killing the Sound ninja in the area it had just seized moving, staring blankly ahead without a sound.<p>

"What did you do Naruto?" He wondered out loud before gasping as the white seals on the Kyuubi's body began to expand before fully engulfing the entire fox. "Is that the work of the new seals?"

The Kyuubi's body began to shrink down until only the body of Naruto remained, his skin was a deep red as the seals appeared on his body as well and began to restore his body to its original color. Jiraiya watched the action in fascination before rushing forward as his student's unconscious body dropped on the ground.

He was at his student's side in an instant before lightly slapping his cheeks, "Naruto, I need to know where the others are."

The blond stirred before opening his eyes, "J-Jiraiya-sensei?"

"Don't worry Naruto, I'm here. Tell me where the others are."

"Just follow the path the Kyuubi made, they should be there..." he muttered before falling unconscious.

* * *

><p>Naruto woke up to the sound of chirping birds. Disoriented, he opened his eyes to see trees and the bright blue sky. He grimaced when feeling blades of grass tickling his face before he made out the sound of voices.<p>

Wincing from his aching abdomen, Naruto sat up and looked to his side to see Jiraiya speaking with a large Toad he didn't recognize.

"Ah. Naruto, good to see you're awake," Jiraiya greeted with a grin.

"What happened?" Naruto asked as he scratched his head.

"After you fell unconscious I found your friends," Jiraiya explained while pointing behind Naruto, who turned around to see Tayuya and Lee sleeping on the grass, both with bandages on their bodies.

It wasn't until now that Naruto noticed something. His eyes widened as he looked down at his arm to see that it was perfectly fine without any sign of anyone healing it.

_'Must have been the Kyuubi's doing,' _he reasoned.

"In any case," Jiraiya continued, "I summoned a couple of Toads to heal you and your friends. The younger version of Gai was in the most danger but he'll make a full recovery soon."

Naruto smiled in relief, "I'm glad."

The Toad Sage's face grew serious, "Do you remember anything after the Kyuubi took over?"

"Not really," Naruto admitted with a far off expression, "I'm aware that he took over and that he destroyed a lot of things but other than that, nothing. It's weird, I could have sworn that I remembered more."

Jiraiya nodded absently, it was for the better that he did not remember. While Naruto understood that killing was necessary, he would be shaken to the core if he found out about the carnage the Kyuubi managed to do before being sealed again. Naruto would think himself responsible, no doubt.

"Anyway, it looks like your seal underwent another change."

Naruto looked up in confusion before pulling up his shirt to look at the seal. "You're right," he muttered as he looked at the seal carefully. Before, the seal had looked like a mess after the old Uzumaki had done something to it, now it appeared much more organized, like he remembered it before but with a set of seals circling around it.

"It looks like you will have access to the Kyuubi's chakra once again," Jiraiya pointed out before crossing his arms, "Listen. The kunoichi in your team told me what made you transform."

Naruto smiled sadly, "Right."

Jiraiya placed a hand on the blond's right shoulder, "Feel free to talk to me when you're ready. I won't force you to tell me anything but know that talking to someone about these things can help you feel better, take it from someone that has been through this before."

"I got it, thank you Jiraiya-sensei."

The Toad Sage grinned before nodding towards the toad at his side, "This guy's sending a message to Tsunade, all you have to do when you get back is give her a brief report about what you found on the Sound base."

Naruto nodded before wondering something, "How long was I out?"

"You were unconscious for two days."

The blond nodded and laid back down, "When are we going home?"

Jiraiya rubbed his chin before speaking, "You're friends are okay now, we could go in a few hours. I don't expect your green-clad friend to wake up so we'll need to carry him."

"Got it," Naruto answered before closing his eyes.

**Ch.28 End**


	29. Home

**Naruto: Making of a Hokage**

_**Sound's End Arc**_

**Ch.29 Home**

To say Naruto was uneasy would be an understatement. Words could not describe the level of nervousness and grim acceptance with which he traveled back home. While his wounds were mostly healed save for the pain in his abdomen and the lingering soreness on his arm, the sense of foreboding made him visually sick.

The gate stood tall in the distance in an almost threatening manner. It was strange how before the gates had been so welcoming, they stirred up feeling of happiness and positive memories. Now they only served to count down the time until he had to face everyone and explain how it was that Neji and Kiba died.

Back then, during their death, he had been occupied with ensuring the mission went smoothly. No one in their right mind would blame _him _for their deaths, but it did little to ease his sense of guilt, however irrational it may be. The quick drum of his heartbeat rang on his ears to an almost deafening level as he swallowed a lump in his throat and realized, not for the first time, that the feeling of guilt was there to stay.

There was no rational way for him to calm down, he had pointed out several reasons that prevented him from being there when his teammates died to himself but they served no purpose. No one would put the blame on him, he knew it for a fact, but the fear was still there. The same fear he had felt many years ago back when he was all alone and hated by the village. A fear of being an outcast.

A stray thought suddenly passed through his mind, _'What if everyone hates me __when __they find out?'_

All the color drained from his face and his steps slowed down considerably. Jiraiya, Tayuya, and the clone carrying an unconscious Lee continued to walk without having noticed him slowing down.

"Stop being a coward and move... Stop acting like such an idiot," he growled at himself as he picked up the pace, the gates of Konoha getting closer and closer with every passing second.

* * *

><p>After traveling together for three years Jiraiya had gotten to know Naruto very well. From his usual quirks and mannerisms to small involuntary twitches on his hands whenever he lied. A good master should pick these things up in order to know what worked with the student and what didn't. Usually it never went beyond offering advice on jutsu or taijutsu but the Toad Sage didn't believe a master should just teach how to fight but offer all of his experiences and advice.<p>

Yes, he knew Naruto like the back of his hand.

That's why, while not surprised, he was deeply concerned about his student's current behavior. Konoha was only mere minutes away now, he could already see the ninja on the gate and the villagers walking on the streets, which was probably the cause for Naruto's somber attitude.

To be honest, Jiraiya had never seen this behavior even when the two of them had witnessed some harsh scenes during their travels. From a family losing a loved one, to a group of mercenaries slaughtering dozens of people. But not once had Naruto looked so defeated. His shoulders were slumped, he dragged his feet, and his clouded blue eyes showed no hint of the spark that was usually there. It was the same look he had seen he had seen on the faces of various ninja during the war.

But the thing that worried him the most was the Kyuubi's seal.

The seal had changed once again. Whatever the old Uzumaki had done to it the first time had made it look painfully sloppy to the point where he thought that it may have been a rush job. Now he knew that the old man had had something in mind when changing the seal, it was obvious by the fact that it changed into something much more _clean. _Minato's seal was back to its normal self but had various markings around it, the seal looked simple yet odd at the same time.

If this wasn't alarming enough, Naruto had been taken over by the Kyuubi only a couple of days ago. That's why Jiraiya needed to figure out what the purpose of the seal was as soon as possible.

He spared Naruto a passing glance and came to the conclusion that Tsunade needed to know everything so that she could watch over him while he was away. With how dangerous tampering with the seal was and Naruto's current emotional state they could not risk being to careful.

_'It looks like I'll be leaving again,' _Jiraiya mused, _'I have to find those answers as soon as possible.'_

* * *

><p>"It appears that there are some notable developments since our last meeting."<p>

A deep voice echoed through a dark cave in which seven shadowed holograms circled around two Akatsuki members. Their hats hanged on their backs, revealing the pair to be Itachi Uchiha and Kisame.

"What now? If you ask me things have really gotten annoying, yeah."

One of the holograms chuckled, "Things getting too complicated for you Deidara? First you let _two _jinchuuriki get away and now your bitching about a couple of things that won't matter in the end."

"Enough," the hologram standing a bit higher than the others raised his voice before Deidara could respond. "Some unprecedented variables have presented themselves, that is indeed correct, but they are mere inconveniences. As of now the only thing that requires our immediate attention are the fake Akatsuki members sighted in a couple of villages. Deidara, you will go take care of them."

Said Akatsuki member scoffed, "Might as well."

"As for the Seven-Tails and Six-Tails... We'll keep an eye on them and capture them when the time comes."

* * *

><p>Naruto and Tayuya stood side by side before Tsunade's desk. Jiraiya was in front of them explaining what had happened after his arrival, things like the Sound ninja chasing them and the casualties they suffered. Tsunade had already received a scroll with the mission details a day ago and only asked her old teammate to tell her himself just in case she missed something in the report.<p>

Her features remained stoic as she noticed that Jiraiya had purposely left out the details of the Kyuubi taking over Naruto and slaughtering dozens of Sound ninja. Knowing him, she realized that he wanted to talk about it alone with her which could not be good. The scroll had explained what the Kyuubi had done but also let her know that there were many things which he would be discussing with her once he got back on the village, probably because he would rather say those things in person.

Finally finished with the quick report, Jiraiya crossed his arms and looked at Tsunade expectantly.

"I have already informed Neji and Kiba's families about their deaths..." Though her voice was calm and collected, it also carried grief that reflected in her eyes. "As for their bodies," she trailed off before looking at Naruto and nodding, "It was a good decision I'm sure they would have made had the roles been reversed."

Naruto bit his lip to prevent himself from letting his emotions get the best of him but nodded appreciatively nonetheless.

"Well then," she fixed her gaze on the former Sound ninja, "I should issue a punishment for breaking off the shackle and trying to escape but you returned to help in the end and tried to warn the others about the situation. That's why as of now your probation will be much lighter. You still won't be allowed to leave the village but now you'll be able to return to the Probation Center when you wish and will only be watched from the shadows at random intervals."

"I understand," Tayuya acknowledged in relief. It would still suck to be unable to leave the village but at least she would have some sort of freedom, she could probably go train somewhere too since her taijutsu was still lacking.

"You may all leave except for Naruto," Tsunade dismissed them but exchanged a look with Jiraiya telling him that they would speak later.

Tayuya glanced at the grim Naruto worriedly before leaving the office while Jiraiya jumped out the window much to Tsunade's annoyance.

"What do you need me for Granny?" Naruto asked in confusion as he watched Tsunade stand and walk towards him. "Wha-?"

His eyes widened in shock as Tsuande embraced him in a hug.

"I really wish you hadn't experienced something like that at such a young age..." she trailed off before pulling away and grasping his shoulders. "Now I can only offer my advice and wait for you to be ready to talk to me about what happened, these things should not be kept bottled up," she smiled in a motherly manner before ruffling his hair, earning an annoyed expression that made her chuckle, "You're gonna stay with me and Shizune for a few days."

"But-"

"I wasn't asking, I was telling you," Tsuande cut him off with a sharp look that made him gulp. "You can't be alone right now or else you'll end up lingering on that one experience. At times like these its best if you're surrounded by friends and family, go it?"

"Family..." Naruto trailed off before blinking away a few tears. The simple word had been so alien to him in the past but now... With his first true smile in days he answered, "Got it."

* * *

><p>Footsteps echoed through the empty corridor of one of Orochimaru's bases. None except for the three making their way through the now deserted base remained.<p>

Orochimaru walked at the head of the group, his expression one of amusement as Kabuto and Sasuke followed after him.

"Now that Sasuke is with us, we'll be able to begin our true plans," Orochimaru spoke casually, a smirk playing on his lips. "From this day on Sound will be no more."

Kabuto adjusted his glasses, "May I ask the reason for this?"

"I've acquired the necessary research for my _pets_," he chuckled darkly as the three reached a door. "After years of waiting it is finally time for us to strike," the door opened, leading to a balcony with a set of stairs going down on the side.

Sasuke's brow furrowed as he moved to the edge of the balcony, his single eye widening in surprise.

The balcony loomed over a massive room where hundreds of ninja dressed in ANBU attire stood awaiting their orders. On their shoulders was an odd purple seal, not too different from the Curse Seal.

"Your friend Naruto lost his comrades by fighting only one of them," Orochimaru smirked as he watched his army, "I wonder how Konoha will fare with five-hundred of them?"

* * *

><p>Ino sighed as she made her way to the hospital. After getting back to the village just yesterday she had hoped to have a small break but that proved to be too much since she'd been put in charge of her family's shop the very next morning. She really didn't mind it too much but after Sakura's mom came over and her own overjoyed mom met with her to gossip, they ended up telling her to take some food to Sakura since they were too busy talking.<p>

She entered the hospital and wasn't stopped as she entered one of the 'staff only' rooms. The medics had seen her around enough to know that she wasn't only Lady Tsunade's former apprentice but Sakura's best friend. Not to mention the fact that she was probably better than them when it came to medical jutsu.

Ino easily spotted Sakura in one of the hallways and ran up to her with a smile, "Your mom asked me to bring you some food."

The medic ninja turned at the sound of Ino's voice, revealing a grim look on her face.

"Wow Sakura, you look pale. Have you been working all night or something?"

"No..." Sakura shook her head slowly, "I was asked to look after Lee."

"Have they finally gotten back?"

The medic nodded, "Lee was brought here for care mostly since his wounds were already treated."

Ino looked at her oddly, "Then what's gotten you so glum?"

Sakura sighed, "I was told that... Well, Neji and Kiba were killed on the mission."

"What?" Ino froze at her words, eyes wide in disbelief before another wave of panic his her, "What about Naruto? Why didn't he come to the hospital? Where is he?"

"Don't worry, he's okay. He's with Lady Tsunade right now, probably telling her what happened."

"I see..." Ino bit her lip as she looked at Sakura who only smiled weakly and nodded towards the door. "Right," she gave her the boxed lunch before giving her a wave, "I'll see you later Sakura."

As she ran out of the hospital she couldn't help but feel bad. The news that Neji and Kiba had hit her hard but her worry of Naruto had overcome her senses for the moment. After finding out what happened she just wanted to see him and make sure he was okay.

* * *

><p>Naruto stood atop the Hokage Monument with a far off expression on his face. "You know dad... I failed on the promise that I made here years ago..." he trailed off as the wind ruffled his hair. The cold breeze washed over him as a shadow was cast on the village, it looked like it was going to rain soon.<p>

"But even if I failed, it's no reason to give up," a small smile formed on his face as he was overcome with a warm feeling, "You know, if this had happened years ago I probably wouldn't have been able to handle it. I was actually terrified of coming back here but it was pretty stupid to feel like that. Granny Tsuande was right, I should be with my family. The family that wouldn't want to see me sad."

He stood up as a spark of determination lit in his eyes, "That's why I'll try my best to walk out of this dark place I'm in. Even though I still feel really bad, I know Neji and Kiba wouldn't want me to blame myself."

The sound of rushing steps suddenly hit his ears as he quickly turned on his heels only to have someone crash against his chest and hug him tightly. Completely taken by surprise he was at a loss of words but calmed down when saw the long platinum blond hair that could only belong to one person.

"I really wanted to see you," he hugged her back and noticed that she was trembling in his arms and sniffling, "Huh? What's wrong Ino?"

Ino pulled away from the hug to reveal a tear stricken face, her eyes red and puffy from the crying, "I was so worried Naruto! When I heard about the others..." She shook her head and buried her face in his chest before speaking in a muffled voice, "I'm so glad you're okay."

A sad smile spread across his face as he hugged her a bit tighter and rested his chin on her head. The two remained quiet as the two silently drank in the fact that they were still there, alive. Death was something that didn't linger on their thoughts before but now that they realized that it was very real and present, both were overwhelmed at the sight of the other. They realized that just being alive in such a cruel world was a gift that they had taken for granted.

"How are you Naruto?" Ino asked, ending the long comfortable silence. She pulled away and took in his tired face, "Are you alright?"

He smiled in response, finding himself to be doing it a lot more often now that he was back at the village. "I'll be okay," he responded truthfully. The deaths of Neji and Kiba still hurt him but not as much as when he was blaming himself for it when he really shouldn't have. Not for the first time he realized how stupid it had been to think that his friends would hate him.

"I'm glad," Ino smiled as she nestled her head on the crook of his neck.

Naruto held her against him, "Hey, Ino..."

"What?"

"We should move in together."

Ino's eyes lit up when hearing his words.

"Ino?"

"Yes. We should."

* * *

><p>The moon loomed over a deserted wasteland. An orange-masked figure wearing Akatsuki robes stood on a tall hill, a sharingan glistening from within the mask.<p>

"Zetsu."

A plant-like man with half of his face a solid white and the other black with a glaring yellow eye emerged from within the ground, also wearing the Akatsuki robes.

"Their locations."

Zetsu smirked before speaking.

* * *

><p>A blond kunoichi wearing a Cloud Village headband walked alone through the streets of her village. Not many were walking around at the current time but she, having just come back from a mission was heading home for a long overdue rest.<p>

* * *

><p>"Stop talking like a stuck up bastard!" Fu snapped at Utakata as the two sat at a room with two beds. With their small mission for a village over, the two had booked a single room at an inn since there weren't too many rooms available.<p>

Utakata smirked as he brought a hand to his chest with a mock dismayed expression, "Whatever do you mean my traveling partner. I was just making an observation on your violent behavior and-"

He was cut off as a pillow smacked against his face.

"Just talk like a normal person!"

* * *

><p>Omoi and Karui sat cross-legged on the floor of a spacious room with white various living essentials. The two held looks of disdain as they listened to the person standing over them.<p>

He was a dark skinned man with a muscular build, blond hair and a goatee. He wore the village's strap-over-one-shoulder flak jacket, and a long red belt tired around his waist. Most notable were his tattoos, one on his right shoulder and the other on his left cheek, as well as his oval shaped sunglasses.

"Now for my second verse~ One that'll make you say 'hey~'"

"Why does he always make us stay over late listening to his raps?!" Omoi lamented.

* * *

><p>"Very well then," the man clad with the orange mask was pleased with Zetsu giving him the specific locations of his targets.<p>

"What do you plan to do now? The Akatsuki refused to follow you yet we still wear their colors."

"That doesn't affect me in the slightest. We simply wear these robes to avoid prying eyes from thinking we have other plans," the masked man responded calmly before turning away from Zetsu, "I'll be right back."

In the blink of an eye the masked man had disappeared, leaving behind a grinning Zetsu.

* * *

><p>Yugito Nii.<p>

Fu.

Utakata.

Killer B.

They all stood frozen in shock in different parts of the world as a masked man wearing Akatsuki robes appeared before them seemingly out of nowhere.

He simply stood there, taking in their startled expressions before raising a hand in greeting.

"How do you do?"

**Ch.29 End**


	30. Everything Falls Into Place

**Naruto: Making of a Hokage**

_**The Gathering Arc**_

**Ch.30 Everything Falls Into Place  
><strong>

Impersonation Jutsu, quite the useful technique, though the man covering his face with an orange mask. His visible sharingan regarded the jinchuuriki before him without a hint of concern.

"Yugito Nii."

The Cloud kunoichi's eyes widened at the mention of her name.

"Do not be alarmed, I simply came here to give you a warning," the masked man spoke casually. It was as if he had no sense of danger, like he didn't find her at all threatening.

"State your name," Yugito commanded in a threatening voice. Her eyes narrowed as she slowly dropped into a fighting stance, "Otherwise I will kill you."

The masked man held up his hands, "The last thing I want to do is fight. My name is Tobi, now that you know that we can talk."

Yugito frowned but didn't say anything in order to hear whatever he had to say.

"You might now know this but this coat I wear belongs to an organization, one known as the Akatsuki."

* * *

><p>"The Akatsuki?" Omoi repeated as he, Karui, and Killer B stood around the masked ninja that had suddenly appeared before them.<p>

His katana drawn, he glanced briefly at the others, seeing that Karui had a kunai in her hand while B was just standing there.

"Yes, an organization whose goal is to capture the Jinchuuriki of every village," Tobi explained, making the couple of young ninja stiffen before an unmistakable rage showed on their faces. "The truth is I am a spy, sent by the elusive Sound Village. That is why I have come to warn your kind," he claimed, directing the last line at Bee who watched the man blankly.

"If you ask me~ You're stupid~ Elusive~ Elusive... I like that word," Bee nodded to himself as he withdrew a notebook and wrote down some notes for later.

"Why the hell are you not taking this more seriously?!" Karui exclaimed at her teacher.

The masked man's single visible eye analyzed the man, "From your lax stance and behavior, I take it that you are aware of the fact that I cannot fight you."

Bee smirked.

* * *

><p>"He's using some type of jutsu to be here," Utakata muttered to a seething Fu that stood by his side as they stared down the masked ninja who had suddenly appeared in their room.<p>

"I don't care what he's doing," Fu declared angrily, "Do you really believe his 'I'm a spy' story?"

Utakata shook his head, "Even so. The fact that he hasn't attacked us when he could've easily done so before, should not be ignored."

"As expected, you're the most levelheaded of your kind, Utakata," Tobi praised. "As I was telling you, the reason I came here was to warn you of the fact that the Akatsuki are about to make their move. Take this as you will but know that you'll be targeted in just a manner of days. One of them is already coming this way."

"Why are you telling us this?" Utakata questioned.

* * *

><p>"To make up for past mistakes...or something like that..." Tobi trailed off.<p>

Yugito glared at the man, her patience running thin. It didn't matter if he came in peace, the fact that he had infiltrated her home so very easily...

"Just tell me whatever you came here for and disappear," she growled at the man.

"Very well then," Tobi nodded, "I advice you stay in this village the next few days. My comrades will be looking for you and I would hate it if they were to catch you and fulfill their plans." Taking a couple of steps back, he gave her a curt nod, "I'll be seeing you, Yugito Nii."

The jinchuuriki gritted her teeth as she watched the man, Tobi, disappear by using some sort of swirling technique.

* * *

><p>"What should we do about his warning?" Karui asked no one in particular as she and the others stood in Killer B's room after the Tobi person had disappeared.<p>

"Seems kind of redundant that they asked Master Bee to stay here considering the fact that he isn't allowed to leave," Omoi observed.

Killer B shrugged, "Even so, my brother must know. If I was asked to stay here by some shady fool then maybe brother will allow me to leave."

* * *

><p>While the other fake bodies had disappeared, only one remained. This one stood before Fu and Utakata, not quite done with his instructions.<p>

"I will leave you with some knowledge," Tobi decided. Of the two, Utakata appeared to be the one most likely to follow what he said. "In exactly one week, the Jinchuuriki of the Two-tails will be attacked by the Akatsuki. If you believe my words then follow this map," he tossed a folded piece of paper at Utakata before disappearing from the room.

The two jinchuuriki remained quiet for a few moments before a glaring Fu stood in front of Utakata, "We're not following whatever map he gave you."

"Don't be so hasty," Utakata scolded, "This might help us save our fellow jinchuuriki. While I have my doubts about that man, I don't think we should ignore what he said."

"What if we're walking straight into a trap? Are you really _this _naïve?!"

He frowned, "I'm not saying we should follow his advice to the letter but that we might as well look around the vicinity. On the chance he is leading us to a trap, we'll be able to get away or fight back if we can find a good spot to watch from."

"Fine," Fu sighed out, "But if we get killed I'm blaming you."

* * *

><p>"You're trying to get the Jinchuuriki together." Zetsu observed as Tobi appeared before him.<p>

"It will ensure that the Akatsuki won't capture them and also make it easy for me to do so when the time comes," Tobi explained, "They will all join forces. There is no doubt about that," he looked up at the moon as a brief silence passed between the two. "Now that the Jinchuuriki being captured is not an issue, we will begin to set our plans in motion."

"I see."

* * *

><p>Sasuke stood in one of the training rooms of Orochimaru's base. Dozens of unconscious ninja were scattered on the floor due to his earlier training exercise. With only a few scratches himself, he was satisfied with the progress he had made so far. Already he could tell that he was stronger than before.<p>

_'Itachi...' _The mere thought of his brother made his blood boil. Now he felt strong enough to kill him. Even with a single sharingan, he knew that his traitorous brother had no chance.

"How's your new eye Sasuke?" Kabuto asked, standing in the sidelines of the battle. "We thought about finding you something more impressive, like a Byakugan, but finding one is not exactly easy."

"This will do," Sasuke answered dryly.

One of the first things Orochimaru had proposed was to give him a new eye. His initial plan was to have Kabuto analyze his sharingan and attempt to make more but he refused almost instantly. Instead, he decided to go with a normal eye and, though it wasn't anything special, it did help him in battle since he didn't have to concentrate as much in using chakra to make up for his former lack of vision.

"Why would I want some weak bloodline anyway?"

Kabuto chuckled, "I should have guessed that someone like you would refuse, being an Uchiha and all. Well, no use lingering on the subject. Let me ask you one more thing though, how are you feeling about your progress? Are my methods helping you improve faster?"

Sasuke frowned. "They're helping enough," he scoffed before walking away.

"Now Sasuke, don't be upset about getting a little extra help," Kabuto responded to his retreating back.

Sasuke could almost see the smirk on the insufferable medic's face. The bastard did not know when to keep his mouth shut and would end up dead if he ever caught him in a bad mood.

* * *

><p>The silence was anything but peaceful.<p>

Ino fidgeted on her bed as her thoughts lingered on what happened. Now that she was alone with her thoughts she felt horrible. Neji and Kiba hadn't been exactly close to her but even so, she had practically grown up with them. She'd be lying if she said that Kiba didn't get on her nerves and that she considered Neji a good friend but now that they were gone, she was filled with grief.

Both had so much to live for, they were both very strong and she was sure they would have become elite ninja in no time. If that wasn't enough, her thoughts turned to their friends and family. How would they react to this? They'd surely be crushed-

_'Oh no,' _Ino brought a hand to her mouth as tears stung her eyes.

How would Hinata react to all this?

To find out that you lost a family member _and _a close friend was something she didn't wish on anyone, much less Hinata.

"This is...horrible," she muttered to herself as she shed tears for her dead comrades and Hinata.

* * *

><p>"Make sure to eat everything on the plate, I don't want any more excuses!" Tsuande's voice loomed over the dining room as she, Shizune, and Naruto sat on a table.<p>

"Please Lady Tsunade, don't be so loud. It's the middle of the night," Shizune pleaded.

The Hokage scoffed as she took a gulp of her drink. "The neighbors never complain. Besides, this idiot never eats his vegetables," she pointed at an annoyed Naruto, a slight blush on her cheeks from the effects of her drink. "Don't be a spoiled brat and eat!"

"You didn't even make this," Naruto responded in an irritated manner, "Shizune did and she told me that it was okay if I didn't eat them!"

"Oh yeah?!"

"Yeah!"

"Well then. You'll be doing C-Ranks from now on!" Tsuande decided as she took another gulp of her drink.

"What?! That's crazy! Even if you're the Hokage you can't do that!"

She smirked, "Of course I can."

Naruto fumed as he popped a piece of broccoli into his mouth. He fought down the urge to spit out the vegetable as he chewed on the damned thing, his face turning a shade of green.

"There, that wasn't so bad was it?"

Panic filled his senses as he took the nearest cup on the table and downed its contents to wash away the horrible taste.

"Oh! I didn't know you liked sake?" Tsunade grinned as she served another cup, "Here. You can drink with me."

Naruto coughed, feeling as though his throat was burning. "What the hell is this? Why is it so strong?!"

"Just drink."

_'Wait. Maybe if I start drinking with her she won't make me eat that crap.' _Deciding that between the two he'd rather drink, he took the cup and drank, much to the pride of Tsunade.

Shizune watched the two before sighing. If she didn't know them she'd swear that the two were related, seriously, both were so stubborn that she wondered how Jiraiya could handle them. Maybe she should ask him? The knowledge could save her a few gray hairs.

"Good! Here's another!"

"I'm not even done with this one Granny! Stop shoving drinks in my face!"

"Oh, shut up and drink!"

* * *

><p>A week passed in the blink of an eye for Naruto. While he was still struck with sadness when hearing someone mention Kiba or Neji in passing, his sense of guilt was gone. Ino had supported him whenever she could and he helped her through her sadness as well, though he never told her how exactly the two died, just promising that it was quick and painless.<p>

In this time he had not once seen the rest of his friends since he'd been secluded in Tsunade's home at first, catching up on any sleep he missed due to waking up to nightmares a couple of times. More recently, most of his friends were out on missions for reasons Tsunade never told him and he guessed that it was her way to keep his mind at ease. It seemed to work though since just yesterday she told him that he could go back to his apartment if he wanted.

Which brought him to his current situation.

With a calm expression he walked through the streets of Konoha, though not the ones he frequented, instead he was at a nice neighborhood where he had seen a couple of apartments that were noticeably bigger than his own and not out of his range money wise. It surprised him to know how much money he had saved up without even trying. He wasn't careful with money at all but he only ever spent it on ninja supplies or the now occasional visit to Ichiraku's, leaving a rather large sum in his name. A small smile formed on his face as he thought back on what he would be spending most of the money on.

When he had asked Ino to live with him it had been a spur of the moment idea brougth on by the need to be with her but she ended up accepting regardless, probably feeling the same way he did. Just a few days ago the subject was brought up again and the two decided that they might as well live together since their relationship was quite advanced. The only small problem would be for Ino to convince her parents but that wouldn't be too hard since she was already old enough to move out by ninja standards.

He entered the apartment complex feeling a bit nervous about meeting some adult civilian he didn't know but the middle-aged woman behind the lobby's desk beamed when she saw him come in, much to his relief.

"Oh my! It's Naruto Uzumaki," the woman smiled in a polite manner, "If you wouldn't mind, could you give me your autograph? My son is a really big fan of yours and- Ah! Where are my manners? Could I ask why you are here?"

"I saw that you had a couple of free apartments and was wondering if-"

"Of course!" She interrupted. "Wait until my son hears that his idol is living at my apartment complex. He'll be so exited... Won't you meet him when I bring him over?"

"S-Sure-"

"Great," she cut him off once again, her brown eyes glimmering with excitement, "Wait until I tell you about my little boy. You know just the other day he..."

Naruto only stood there politely, not having the heart to interrupt such an awe-struck woman.

* * *

><p>After about two hours of a process that should have taken just a little over thirty minutes, Naruto exited the apartment complex. He couldn't help but chuckle at the woman's antics that had appeared to be delighted to hear that he didn't plan on moving to the apartment alone and assured him that it'd be no problem. With that taken care of he needed to get the things from his old apartment, having already told the owner that he'd be leaving the place. Him and Naruto didn't really see eye to eye for years since the Third Hokage had handled all the payments, but he was an alright person.<p>

A grin formed on his face when thinking that Tsunade would scold him when she found out he planned on using the Shadow Clone Jutsu to move all of his stuff to the new apartment.

"What are you grinning about Shithead?"

The voice of Tayuya broke him out of his thoughts. "What are you doing here?" He asked the smirking girl walking towards him.

"I was looking for you," she responded directly. "Since the Hokage doesn't have me tailed anymore, I've been training whenever I have the chance. I still have the fucking shackle so I've been mostly training on my taijutsu but I figured that I'd need a sparring partner to see where I've improved."

Naruto nodded in understanding, "Sure, I'll help you but I can't right now. I'm moving to a new apartment so I need to move all my stuff."

"Finally listening to me and moving out of that shitty apartment, eh?" Tayuya teased with a smirk before crossing her arms, "I'll help you, I have nothing better to- Wait a minute. This is probably why you were grinning like an idiot. What? Are you moving in with your girlfriend or some shit?"

He chuckled in response, a smug smile on his face, "I don't expect someone like you to understand how it feels to plan something like this with the person you're with but, yes, we're moving in together."

Tayuya scoffed, "That attitude you get whenever you're talking about her really pisses me off. You're a smug bastard."

Naruto grinned. Tayuya was his friend, he could say that without hesitation now, and the two tended to insult the other as a way to pass the time. This never ended in an actual argument though since the two found amusement in their reactions to certain insults.

"I'm gonna use the Shadow Clone Jutsu to move all my stuff," he explained his earlier train of thought, making her laugh.

"The Hokage is gonna be pissed when she sees all the clones running around the village."

"That's what I was thinking," he laughed as he made the single hand seal, something he didn't require when making only a couple of clones, but for the amount he was going to make he'd need a bit of concentration. "Shadow Clone Jutsu!"

* * *

><p>"You didn't only flood the village with clones but some of them caused trouble to some ninja!"<p>

Naruto kneeled before the Hokage. His right cheek was red and had a slight bulge from where Tsunade slapped him earlier. To be honest, he didn't think that his clones would cause so much trouble, those bastards sometimes got a mind of their own.

"One ran off with Ebisu's glasses. Another shadowed and annoyed Sakura at the hospital until she finally snapped and punched it. Also, a group of clones tried to take off Kakashi's mask. I can understand the last one, but how do you explain this. These weren't the only cases just so you know!"

He remained quiet, not even trying to tell her that he didn't need her repeating everything since he had seen a few of those memories, mostly the one about the clone annoying Sakura.

Tsunade rubbed her her temples before sighing. "So, did you get all your stuff moved?" She changed the conversation as a way to calm down.

"Yeah," Naruto answered with a small smile, "You have no idea how glad I am that Inoichi is out on a mission since I know for a fact one of the clones would have tried something to annoy him. I really don't need that now since he'll probably kill me when he finds out Ino and I are going to move in together."

"How did it go with her mother?" Tsunade asked, this time with a smile on her face.

"Good. Ino's mom didn't really mind us living together..." he trailed off, not wanting to remember his embarrassment when Miki pulled him aside and told him that she wanted grand kids running around soon.

Tsunade chuckled before patting him on the head and moving to her seat. "Moving in together is a big step but I'm sure you're both ready," she decided while Naruto stood up and dusted off his pants. "You can go now. Consider my scolding your punishment for annoying so many ninja and them annoying me with dozens of complains saying the same thing."

"Got it," Naruto chuckled before, much to Tsunade's dread, jumping out her window.

It looked like he'd picked up some of Jiraiya's traits during their time together. But putting that aside, she couldn't help but smile. Naruto looked a lot better than he did a week ago. He was still prone to nightmares and sudden mood shifts but it wasn't as bad as before, he looked happy.

* * *

><p>Yugito Nii ran through the dark sewers of a village. Blood ran down her right arm and forehead, her headband gone, cut off by a deathly precise kunai.<p>

"You can't keep running for much longer bitch!"

The voice of one of the robed man echoed in the sewers but, looking at the rather narrow area around her, she still couldn't fight them. If she were to use her full power in such a place then the sewers would collapse and probably kill her.

Her body in high alert, her glowing green eyes spotted two people standing up ahead.

"Relax, we're not here to hurt you like those two."

One of the two spoke calmly but she wasn't about to stop and talk. Instead she focused in her Bijuu's malevolent chakra and brought out a small portion of it, causing her fingernails to grow into sharp gray claws.

As she prepared to attack, she was completely taken off-guard when one of the two people up ahead used chakra _very _similar to her own. It was the girl with mint-colored hair that created wings made up of chakra.

"I am Fu, jinchuuriki of the Seven-Tails."

The person standing at her side used similar malevolent chakra, creating a blue aura around him, "I am Utakata, jinchuuriki of the Six-Tails."

"We're here to help you kick their ass," Fu smirked when she spotted the two Akatsuki members in the distance.

Yugito watched them carefully but nodded as the footsteps behind her got closer. "Fine, just don't slow me down."

"I was about to ask you the same thing," Fu replied.

Together in the sewers, three jinchuuriki stood their ground against two Akatsuki members for what appeared to be the first of many encounters.

**Ch.30 End**

**So, what am I supposed to call Killer B? Should I use 'B' or 'Bee'?**


	31. Four Out of Nine

**Naruto: Making of a Hokage**

_**The Gathering Arc**_

**Ch.31 Four Out of Nine  
><strong>

"What the fuck is this?" Hidan, one of the Akatski members in pursuit of Yugito Nii, stopped running when seeing three ninja with different colored chakra standing together against them. One a bright green, another a black and blue, and the last one had a clear blue color.

"It appears we were misinformed," Kakuzu observed in a disgruntled tone.

"Huh? I didn't think you'd get scared so easily?"

"I merely wish to be paid extra for the _extra_ effort."

The three jinchuuriki looked at each other before Fu nodded, silently relaying the message that she would be the first to attack. Running through hand signs at a fast speed, Fu extended her arms out and created a powerful gust of air, howling as it closed in on the two Akatsuki members who did not even try to dodge.

The wind pushed against their bodies but neither budged and while Hidan smirked smugly, Kakuzu spotted something in the wind.

"Ah, I see."

Fu pulled out a kunai and threw it with a flick of her wrist as the tag on it ignited. This was a new combination jutsu she had come up with. By releasing particles of her Powder Technique along with a weak gust of wind, the particles would spread across the enemy. The thing about those particles was that they are highly flammable.

She smirked as the explosive kunai went off and a vortex of fire shot up around the two Akatsuki members.

"Don't let your guard down," Utakata spoke up when seeing the kunoichi relax her stance slightly. Ignoring the glare sent his way he turned to the other jinchuuriki, "Could you tell us your chakra nature?"

"Fire," Yugito responded curtly. "Who are those guys anyway?"

"Akatsuki," Fu answered, "They're a group of powerful ninja trying to capture all of us jinchuuriki."

"I see."

"Hey! I hope you didn't think that was enough to stop us!" Hidan called out with a smirk as the vortex faded away. His clothes burned in several places and a few scorch marks on his face, the Akatsuki member didn't seem to care as he took his scythe with both hands.

"Our best option is to run," Utakata spoke in a harsh whisper.

"I know. We'll create a big diversion when the time is right," Fu decided before taking air so that she had a clearer view of the enemies as well as their surroundings.

Yugito took her example and stepped forward in a fighting stance.

"Let's not be too hasty. We'll focus on counterattacking and-"

Utakata started but was interrupted by a miffed Yugio, "Is he always such a pain?"

"Yeah. He's always scolding me about the smallest things and he won't stop talking like a spoiled brat with a stick up his ass," Fu grinned.

Utakata sighed and pulled out his pipe. This fight would be tough but he had a feeling that if they pulled it off, this would be no match for the two jinchuuriki already getting on his nerves.

"Let's go already!" Hidan exclaimed as he ran at Yugito and swung his scythe in a wide arc.

Yugito met the blades with her claws, drawing sparks, while Fu dove down on Hidan with her right fist cocked back. At the same time Kakuzu shot a large fireball at the descending jinchuuriki but it was stopped by a large bubble that appeared protectively around her whole body. The bubble took the attack before popping as Fu delivered a punch to Hidan's face, making him grunt in pain before being sent flying back and crashing on a wall.

"Now!" Fu exclaimed as she took in a deep breath.

"Close your eyes and get ready to run," Utakata instructed Yugito before putting the pipe to his mouth.

"Dammit! You're gonna pay for that, bitch!" Hidan roared in rage and prepared to attack but was stopped as the whole area lit up in a blinding flash that made him cry out in pain.

Kakuzu growled as he shielded his eyes from the flash. As the attack died down he retracted his arm from his face and opened his eyes only to be met by hundreds of bubbles floating in the area, leaving no space to walk on.

"Listen Hidan. Do not mo-"

* * *

><p>Fu, Utakata, and Yugito ran through the dark sewers as a powerful explosion rocked the area, even making the ground shake as the whole place began to collapse.<p>

"We have to move faster!"

"I know!" Fu shot back at Utakata angrily for stating the obvious. "Hold on to my arm," she advised as her chakra wings formed on her back and she flew out of the tunnel. Yugito ran up ahead at an incredible speed, probably coming from her Bijuu since she still had her claws.

Finally, the three emerged at the outskirts of a village just as the sewers collapsed in a heap.

"We're not safe yet. Let's keep going," Utakata stated as the three ran for the woods.

* * *

><p>"Fuck!" Hidan growled as he emerged from the rubble. He glanced up at the gaping hole on the ceiling before turning to glare at Kakuzu, "Why the hell did you go easy on them?! You didn't even use your fucking masks!"<p>

"It doesn't matter. Having them together will make things easier," Kakuzu said before turning to leave. He had spotted a certain person not too far from where he was. Killing him would earn him a big bounty.

"Are we just going to let them go?"

"Pursuing them now would be useless. Not only are they fast but there's no doubt they also know how to conceal themselves, proven by the fact that the two jinchuuriki that showed up managed to surprise us."

Hidan scoffed, "Fine. But you're the one who's gonna deal with that weird-eyed bastard."

* * *

><p>After what seemed like hours the three jinchuuriki came to a stop near a cliff overlooking various large mountains with forestry at their base.<p>

Silence settled over the three of them as they caught their breath. Now that they had escaped from such dangerous ninja they all wondered the same thing, _'now what?'_

Yugito looked between the two jinchuuriki before asking what had been bugging her for a while, "Why did the two of you know where to find me?"

"We've been in the area looking for suspicious activity," Utakata answered truthfully. If there was one thing he wanted, it was for there to be no lies between any of them. "When he was the Akatsuki members, those that attacked you, we stepped in. Our goal is to gather the rest of our fellow jinchuuriki after all."

"For what purpose?"

"To make sure all of us survive. For us to do that, we need to make a force that can combat the Akatsuki," Fu joined the conversation with a grin. "If we want to survive then we have to work together. Thoe guys might not seem like much but that's only because we got lucky back there. If those guys had fought as seriously as we did then at least one of us would have been captured."

"Is it just the two of you?"

"No," she responded, "The jinchuuriki of the Nine-Tails is helping out too even though he can't be with us all the time."

Yugito took in the information carefully. She had to say that it was impressive for them to find each other. Usually, villages kept them under watch most of the time. It was the same with her, the latest mission she'd been assigned had come with the condition that two ninja would 'accompany' her, but the two of them ended up being killed by the Akatsuki in the end.

_'Three of the nine jinchuuriki are on board of this thing. If I were to count myself and Master B then it would be five of the nine...' _Yugito looked at the two in deep thought.

Could she leave her village?

They didn't treat her horribly or anything, at least not anymore, but the suspicious stares and the 'hidden' ninja watching over her every move was suffocating. Not just that but the Raikage rarely let her out of the village.

The answer was easy really but she wanted to make absolutely sure of it. Abandoning her village came with consequences so being certain was key.

After a moment of silence she grinned for the first time in the presence of Fu and Utakata.

"Very well. I'll join you. We should go somewhere safe so that you can fill me in on everything."

"No problem," Utakata and Fu answered before leaving.

* * *

><p>Naruto stood outside of Tsunade's house with a smile on his face. Today was the day he moved out and into his new apartment together with Ino. He'd be lying if he said that he wasn't nervous about it but at the same time he couldn't wait. Having her with him for the majority of the day sounded great since he was mostly thinking about her when they were apart.<p>

He looked at the house one last time before leaving. A couple of neighbors waved as he walked by and a few people even pulled him to the side for an autograph. What he did to be so famous he didn't know but he complied nonetheless.

Settling for a peaceful pace, Naruto couldn't help but smile. Now that he thought about it he hadn't gotten much time to appreciate the village up until recently. He actually noticed some things that had changed in the three years he'd been gone, from a new building to an old store replaced by a new one selling ninja merchandise. Speaking of which, Tsunade still felt he wasn't ready for missions and he agreed.

Going out of the village for a mission felt too sudden. Even so, he wanted to get back out there as soon as he was ready. His stay in the village had made him appreciate the little things he missed, like the rush of fighting or sneaking around. He'd done his fair chair of traveling but he still enjoyed to travel out of the village be it a neighboring village or somewhere far away.

Just as he began to muse about the places he'd like to visit, a messenger toad appeared at his side with a scroll on hand.

"Seriously. You guys been callin' me back and forth."

"Then get someone else to deliver these," Naruto reasoned as he took the scroll on hand.

"Nonsense! All of the others are idiots! There's no way I can trust anyone with these messages. Specially if they're as important as you said."

"They are. Thanks," he nodded at the Toad which waved a hand before disappearing.

Naruto pocketed the scroll and decided to go to the training grounds. He could probably read the scroll on a tree and look for something to do once finished. Maybe he could find Tayuya there for a spar, she had gotten a whole lot better after all.

* * *

><p>Ino smiled contently as she set the several bags of groceries she had bought, in the dining room of her house. Leave it to Naruto not to buy any sort of groceries for their new apartment, seriously, her boyfriend was really forgetful when it came to every day things. Luckily for him she was there to remember for him.<p>

"Ino? Back already?" Asked Miki with a smile upon entering the dining room.

"Yeah. I had to buy some things for the apartment."

"I can't believe you're already old enough to leave the house," Miki said while reminiscing. She snapped out of her musings to give her daughter a bit of advice. "Remember that this is a big step Ino. You'll pick up things on the way and I know this sounds corny, but remember to be yourself. If you try to act a certain way then you'll get exhausted in just a few weeks."

Ino smiled fondly at her mom, "I know. I know. No need to be so worried mom. Everything will go fine... At least until dad finds out..."

"Don't worry about your father," Miki threw a confident fist in the air with her eyes shining in determination.

"T-Thanks," Ino answered a bit sheepishly.

* * *

><p>Naruto glanced up at the sky while sorting his thoughts. According to the message, Fu and Utakata, whom he had yet to meet, had added another jinchuuriki to the cause, one Yugito Nii. Not just that but they had encountered and fought two Akatsuki members that they managed to get away from.<p>

Naruto wasn't stupid. He knew just how dangerous it was for the Akatsuki to even remotely suspect their location. If they did, they would send more than one of their powerful ninja.

Fu, Utakata, and Yugito were basically gift-wrapped unless they moved fast.

It was time to meet with Fu. Ready or not, he had to leave the village and meet the others face to face. This posed a problem since Tsunade could not find out about his plans under any circumstances. Not only would she be livid but if the village found out, she'd be forced to exile him.

Well, it wasn't like he would get caught sneaking out of the village. He was confident in his ability to get out of the village without being seen, all he had to do was to reverse summon himself to Mount Myoboku and then tag along with a messenger toad to appear with Fu.

Piece of cake.

He dropped down from the tree he was on with a smile. With his next course of action decided he had time to kill since he didn't plan on sneaking out until much later tonight. So what better to do than to find Tayuya and spar.

There were a few ninja training in the area, some even meditating under the shade of trees. He looked around for Tayuya but found no sign of her. Scratching his head in confusion, he moved to leave but stopped when he picked up a quiet sound coming from the forestry in the vicinity.

Naruto decided to check it out and walked away from the main training grounds. As he walked he heard the sounds again, louder this time, and it didn't even take two seconds for him to figure out what they were. Taunting voices, the sound of fists making contact with flesh, and finally...a voice.

Eyes narrowing in anger, Naruto stormed into the clearing where the sounds were coming from, witnessing as three ninja surrounded a hurt Tayuya with several light bruises on her arms and face.

"Weren't you a Sound ninja whore? I thought you bitches were stronger than this," a ninja taunted with a smug expression.

Tayuya glared at the three. Were she not so weakened by the fucking shackle she could've done something but-

Recognition flashed on her face before she grinned, in relief or amusement over what was about to happen she did not know.

"You guys are fucked."

"Huh?" One of the ninja let out dumbly before a foot collided with his face, sending him crashing against a tree.

The remaining two ninja looked at the one responsible in horror. They did not live under a rock, they knew who the ninja in front of them was. Despite his civilian clothing being a plain white shirt and blue pants, his identity was more than known.

"N-Naruto sir! What can we do for you?!"

"I want to know why you were hurting someone who has her chakra sealed away."

The two ninja whimpered under Naruto's harsh glare.

"Answer me!"

"Y-Yes!" They cried out in unison before one of them tried to explain, "Um. Well, she's a Sound ninja."

"Wrong."

A fist collided on the ninja's face, throwing him back several feet before he crashed on the ground unconscious.

"You guys must have already known that she is no longer part of Sound," Naruto explained as he set his glare on the last of the ninja, "Your turn. Tell me why you were hurting her?"

The ninja trembled before trying to run away, only for Naruto to appear in front of him and deliver a harsh blow to his stomach, making him gasp for breath before falling over unconscious.

"Idiots," Naruto scoffed before looking over Tayuya, seeing that despite looking a bit beat up she was fine. "You okay?"

The kunoichi chuckled, "I'm fucking pathetic aren't I? Couldn't even stand up to three weak fuckers."

"Don't let it get you down. It's only because of the shackle," he replied and crossed his arms, "In any case, I'm pretty sure we can use this incident to make Granny take that stupid thing off."

"Really?"

Naruto fought the urge to laugh at the expression on her face. She looked so hopeful and innocent, almost like a child being promised a gift.

"Really. Now that I think about it she could probably heal your wounds when we go. You know, we could go right now if you wa-"

"Let's go!"

* * *

><p>For the very first time since he had known her, Tayuya was genuinely smiling with a trot in her steps. Seeing a kunoichi that had lived a hard life acting this way was a bit odd but, then again he couldn't imagine what it would be like to lose the ability to use chakra for so long. If he remembered correctly, this was the first time in three years, not counting the time the shackle came off during their mission to the Sound base but he could see why it would be in the back of her mind during that time.<p>

"Hey Naruto," Tayuya snapped him out of his thoughts. Her face was a lot more controlled now but the glint of excitement was still very visible in her eyes. Most noticeable was the fact that she did not call him _Shithead. _"We should go spar or something. I want to see how much better I can do now that the stupid shackle is not fucking with me."

He was about to respond but noticed that the sun was setting already.

_'Whoa! How long was I in there twisting Granny's arm?' _

It was truly with a heavy heart that he explained his situation to Tayuya. "Sorry but I can't go right now. I'm moving into my apartment tonight and want everything to be ready before ten o'clock at least," he spoke regretfully.

Tayuya looked at him with a hint of disappointment. Be it any other person she might have snapped at him but, looking at his indecisive face, she decided not to push him into it. As things were he'd probably agree to tag along if she insisted but that wasn't the kind of person she was. He'd gotten rid of the fucking shackle, what more could she ask of him?

"It's alright Naruto," she waved him off with a grin before punching him lightly on the chest, "Just make sure you're there tomorrow so I can kick your ass."

"As if you could," he laughed before waving briefly, "Later."

Tayuya watched his retreating figure and looked down in thought. Now that the shackle was off and she had her chakra back, what was keeping her in the village? They didn't have any use for her anymore, at least she thought so. What was stopping her from leaving then?

She groaned when realizing what had happened. Tayuya, former ninja of the Sound Village, had found a cozy place she could call home. Yeah, people that knew about her past with Sound glared whenever she was nearby, but that was nothing new. Unlike before though she had someone she could call a..._friend_. It was weird to associate the word with anyone but when it came down to it that's what he was. Even so, she'd rather die than admit it to anyone.

That idiot had infected her with his weird way of thinking to the point where she believed that the amount of people she'd associate with the word..._friend, _would increase over time.

"I should stop myself before I hurl," she scowled.

* * *

><p>Naruto slowly pushed open the door to his new apartment.<p>

It was much bigger than his last one, with two bedrooms, a large living room, and a medium-sized kitchen. The place also had a balcony with a view of the Hokage Monument. But that was the last thing on his mind as he stepped into the furnished place.

"Welcome home...Naruto." Ino smiled when seeing him come in.

"Um... I'm back?"

She stifled a laugh at the blush on his face. The guy had lived alone most of his life so it was not surprising to see him a bit shy over having someone to come home to. It was sorta cute in a way to see him act so bashfully.

"Hey. What are you laughing at?" Naruto asked a bit peeved, making his girlfriend laugh. He wanted to act upset but finally caved and laughed along with her as he kicked off his shoes.

Ino walked up to him and pecked his lips with a playful grin, "There. First kiss in the new apartment."

Naruto chuckled before pulling her into a kiss. As things began to heat up, he broke the kiss and stepped back with a blush, "We should at least eat first."

"Y-Yeah," Ino replied a bit dumbly before pouting lightly, "It's not fair."

"What's not fair?"

"When did you get so good at kissing? Ever since you came back from your trip with Jiraiya you got better."

He looked at her oddly with his head cocked to the side. "Really?" He wondered out loud before grinning mischievously, "Maybe I just have that big of an effect on you."

"Really?" Ino repeated his words feeling a bit irked at his teasing. She looked him dead in the eye with a fire burning in her eyes, almost like an overly confident ninja right before a big battle. "Then I guess I'll have to show you who has the biggest effect on who in this relationship!"

Naruto smiled as she pulled him into a kiss that heated rapidly.

_'Oh well, dinner can wait.'_

* * *

><p>It was the middle of the night as Naruto, dressed in black sweatpants put on a simple white shirt and placed his summoning scroll on his apartment's living room floor.<p>

A messenger toad appeared shortly after, an almost amused expression on its face.

"So? You really doing this?"

Naruto glanced at his and Ino's bedroom briefly before nodding at the toad. "You can go ahead and return to Mount Myoboku. Summon me there as soon as you can, I don't want to be out of the village for too long."

"Fine."

The Toad disappeared from the room leaving Naruto alone with his thoughts. He'd left a message for Ino just in case she woke up so that she wouldn't get worried. Everything was ready for his first meeting with the two new jinchuuriki.

A few moments later, Naruto disappeared from the room in a burst of smoke.

**Ch.31 End**


	32. Prelude to Destruction

**Naruto: Making of a Hokage**

_**The Gathering Arc**_

**Ch.32 Prelude to Destruction  
><strong>

Like he had thought, traveling via a toad was anything but comfortable. It wasn't like it was cramped inside or anything, to be honest it was quite accommodating, but just the fact that he was _inside _of a large toad kept him from being comfortable. He had thought that he would just be summoned to where Fu was but it turned out that it couldn't be done unless she had signed the Toad contract, that's why the messenger Toads summoned themselves to her and not the other way around.

Thankfully, it wasn't long before the Toad's massive mouth opened to reveal the edge of a lake with tall mountains looming over it. Naruto did not waste time in stepping out of the summon which nodded at him before disappearing in a cloud of smoke. Naruto took in a deep breath, taking in the crisp night air gladly after having been deprived of it for several moments.

"You weren't kidding when you said that a Toad would take you here."

"Unfortunately I wasn't," he smiled in response at the voice and turned to meet an amused looking Fu leaning against a nearby tree. "Did you wait long?"

"Not really," she shrugged nonchalantly. "How are things on your end?"

He shook his head in response, "Not too bad I guess. I just moved to a new place, turns out I've saved up a lot of money from the missions I took back when I was training."

"Really?" Fu asked, more than a little surprised that someone like Naruto actually had money saved up. "We really should have asked you for money back when we needed it..." she mused silently before shaking her head and moving to more serious manners, "In any case, whey did you want to meet with me before you could see the others?"

"I want to know what you think of them first. You've spent time with them, tell me what their strengths are since I won't be here long enough to find out myself."

"Well, Utakata can be offensive but he's more of a defensive type of guy. He uses some weird bubbles to attack or defend, they're really weird..." Fu trailed off with a hand on her chin in a thinking position, "As for Yugito, well, she's _fast. _I thought I was fast before but moving side by side with her makes me look slow. Let's see... What else...? Oh! She can also grow _freaking_ claws. Freaking claws, Naruto!"

Said ninja had a look of awe on his face, "That's _freaking _cool."

"Right?!"

Naruto chuckled before clearing his throat, "Anyway, we should probably get back to business." His expression grew serious, mirrored by Fu who knew this would be important. "Now that the Akatsuki saw you guys together things will get more dangerous. They'll start looking for us in groups rather than pairs now."

"What's so bad about that? We can hold our own against them. You're just being paranoid."

"We can never be too careful when it comes to them," he responded with a grim expression, "Just think about it. You've seen first hand what they can do, now imagine more than one attacking you at the same time. That's not all though, how strong do you think their leader, someone that is able to have several powerful shinobi work together, is. If they get serious and send their strongest members then I'm sure none of us will stand a chance."

Fu nodded in acceptance. Naruto had a really good point and she hadn't forgotten her fight with Deidara either, if there were people stronger than him attacking them at the same time then their chances at surviving were slim.

"What are we supposed to do then?" Fu asked, "Stop trying to find the others."

"Not exactly," he answered, "I'll tell you all about it once we're with the others, they should hear this."

"All right then, follow me," she turned on her heels and walked off towards the forest with Naruto following behind her.

* * *

><p>An empty living room was the sight what greeted Ino upon leaving her bedroom. The floor cold at her feet, she glanced around in confusion. Having woken up alone in bed, she thought that Naruto might have gone to get a midnight snack...<p>

Tsunade could not have called him for a mission, not so soon after _that _happened. So why had he seemingly disappeared from the apartment on their first night together.

A piece of paper on their coffee table caught her attention. She took it on hand and read its contents, her face going from confusion to worry.

No wonder he had disappeared so suddenly, the jinchuuriki had gotten into some sort of fight with the Akatsuki. The note explained that he had gone to meet with them to make sure they were okay and to go over some things he could not explain over messages. The more she thought about it, the more she wished he had woken her up so that she could go.

Maybe that's why he hadn't woken her up. He knew that she could push until he gave out and brought her along. Still, if he thought a simple note was sufficient in making up for his sudden disappearance, he was dead wrong. When he got back she would make sure to give him an earful for acting so rashly.

* * *

><p>Fu led Naruto into a small clearing and placed her hands on her hips confidently.<p>

"You guys can come out now!"

In an instant, two people dropped down from the shadows, one a male and the other female. Naruto took in their appearances and noticed the headband of the older female. He groaned in his head when seeing that it was a Cloud Village headband, those guys were a big problem, often almost starting wars because of some attempt at gaining more power. They even infiltrated Konoha once in a failed attempt at gaining the Byakugan.

"I am the jinchuuriki of the Six-Tails, Utakata." The male jinchuuriki interrupted Naruto's train of thought.

The older woman stepped forward, "My name's Yugito Nii, I'm the jinchuuriki of the Two-Tails."

"Nice to meet you. My name's Naruto Uzumaki, jinchuuriki of the Nine-Tails," he introduced himself with a grin before noticing the amused grin on Yugito's face.

"You've been the talk of a certain loud kunoichi," Yugito began to explain once seeing his confused expression. "A couple of Cloud Ninja fought you not too long ago, right?"

"Oh yeah," Naruto recalled with a smile, "It was on a mission to Wave."

Yugito laughed quietly, "Yes, and let me tell you that having _her_ mad at you is not a good thing."

He chuckled nervously in return. While not _really _worried about fighting those two again, the kunoichi from back then had reminded him of a more violent version of Sakura.

"I should tell you guys why I came," Naruto changed the subject, his expression growing serious. "Since you guys ran into the Akatsuki we have to be a lot more careful from now on. Those guys are strong and having to face more than two of them at the same time will be a big problem. I'm sure you've all seen how strong they are."

Utakata nodded, "While they didn't have a chance to retaliate, they proved to be more than versatile."

"That's right," Naruto agreed before continuing, "But there's something good about this development. I'm sure word will get out that the Akatsuki were spotted fighting Cloud ninja, that added to Yugito's disappearance will make the rest of the villages assume that you were all captured by the Akatski. We'll use this to our advantage. If we ever spot an Akatsuki member, we should spread the word, that way we'll have nearby villages turn their attention to them and give us time to get away. From now on you will need to wear something that can hide your appearance."

He paused briefly before continuing. "If you are spotted or there's not enough time to avoid conflict then you will return to Whirlpool," Naruto crossed his arms as a grin played on his lips, "There's this jutsu that works through the use of special seals. I will place these seals in Whirlpool and give you a scroll with matching ones. This will give you the ability to teleport to Whirlpool in just a few minutes."

Yugito held a bit of recognition on her features before speaking, "This wouldn't happen to be the Flying Thunder God Jutsu, would it?"

"A much weaker version than what the Fourth Hokage used," Naruto answered, "While he could teleport in an instant, the one we'll be using will take the aid of more than one person and take a few minutes to work."

"I see," Utakata muttered to himself before addressing Naruto, "When can you teach us how to use this jutsu?"

"Soon," he responded, "You guys should head straight to Whirlpool after I leave, once you make it there I'll go see you. It shouldn't take me more than a week to teach it to you, I can tell that you guys will have no problem learning something like this."

With that said, Naruto looked between the three jinchuuriki, "That's all I needed to say, anything you guys want to ask before I go?"

Utakata nodded as a frown etched on his face, "We haven't discussed this yet but some time ago Fu and I were approached by a ninja wearing Akatsuki robes, he appeared out of thin air to tell us that he was a spy."

"You too?" Yugito let out in surprise, "That happened to me and the jinchuuriki of the Eight-Tails too."

"Anything else you know about this guy?" Naruto asked with a look of worry.

"He wore an orange mask and had the ability to disappear in mere seconds," Utakata answered with Yugito and Fu nodding in agreement.

Naruto visually paled at this. For someone to approach them so easily...

"All right, I'll try to look into it as soon as I can. For now just focus on getting to Whirlpool and if the guy appears again be on your guard, he could be dangerous."

"Quit your worrying already," Fu broke in with a grin, "We'll make it to Whirlpool in no time and I can tell you that it won't take us that long to learn that jutsu."

Naruto chuckled, "Let's hope so."

* * *

><p>"It appears that I have misjudged the way in which events have played out," started the leader of the Akatsuki. His rippled eyes looked between the two members he had called for.<p>

One of them had blue hair with a large light blue paper flower at the side. Her expression was neutral, ever the stoic member of the organization.

The other member chose to keep the Akatsuki straw hat on, always being shrouded in mystery.

Rippled eyes glanced briefly at dark and empty throne room of the Uchiha Hideout, which was mostly used for when he had something particularly important to say to a select few. First made known by Itachi Uchiha, the place had served them for years.

"Not only have the Jinchuuriki decided to get together, but some villages deem us responsible for it." Though this greatly affected their plans, the leader remained stoic, "Only the masked man is capable of disrupting our plans to such a degree. With the villages looking for us, the Jinchuuriki posing a greater threat in a group, and Orochimaru building an army of deformities; we will have to be more aggressive."

"Aggressive you say?" The member with blue hair repeated, "I suppose this means that we will need to capture the Jinchuuriki that remain in their villages."

The leader looked at her briefly before turning his attention to the other member, "You are my most trusted members, it is why I have called you here today... Kakuzu, Hidan, and Kisame will retrieve the Eight-Tails, they are already on their way there. The others cannot be trusted."

The Akatsuki leader looked between the two members sternly, "We will depart to the Hidden Leaf Village in just five days, their Nine-Tails will be ours." He glanced at the member wearing the straw hat, "You may have your revenge once we get there, Konan should be able to handle their ninja, while I retrieve the Nine-Tails."

"Very well," the unnamed Akatsuki member replied with quite a bit of thirst for vengeance dripping from the two words.

* * *

><p>"Why didn't you wake me up?!"<p>

That was the question that greeted Naruto upon getting back to his and Ino's apartment. While he had hoped that she was still asleep by the time he made it back, he knew better than to _really _hope for it and had to remind himself that even if he did get away with it, she would figure it out in a short time. In a way, it was better to get this conversation out of the way now rather than later.

"You read the note..." Naruto muttered to himself sheepishly while standing awkwardly in the living room. Thinking back on it, maybe he should have made up an excuse, like going out to train or leaving for a walk.

"Of course I did," Ino responded with her hands on her hips, "Tell me why you didn't wake me up. I know you had to leave tonight but you could've at least told me yourself instead of leaving a note behind."

"You're right," he hung his head slightly. "I'm really sorry Ino but I didn't want to worry you."

"Good job."

He winced at her bluntness but walked over to her and pulled her into a hug. "Listen," he began, feeling her relax in his arms, "I was only there for less than an hour and didn't want to wake you just for that, it was just a small talk with them. I didn't even take any ninja stuff besides the scroll I used to get there, so please forgive me. I promise to take you with me the next time I meet with them."

Ino fought to remain mad at him but finally melted in his arms, "Fine. But if you don't, a small talk won't fix things, got it?"

Naruto smiled, "Sorry I was an idiot."

"Don't worry, I'm used to it," she teased.

He laughed in response.

* * *

><p>Sasuke did not like to think that he was some sort of evil monster with only destruction in his mind. There <em>were <em>people who he wanted to get revenge on but was he not justified? One of those two had murdered his entire clan, his whole family, and was running around with an evil group of people. The other had belittled him on several occasions and, most importantly, cost him his right eye. He liked to think that his actions were justified.

However, at this very moment he did not think that there was any justification for what he was doing.

Orochimaru, having told him that he needed experience in the art of killing, had sent him along with a couple of the odd ninja dressed in Anbu clothing on a mission. There was a campt of mercenaries nearby, his mission was to kill them all. While killing wasn't something new to him, these were not corrupted Root ninja who abused their strength more than often.

So, as his Chidori impaled, as his blade mutilated several men, and as many were killed by a giant fireball jutsu; Sasuke thought that he might be an evil monster after all.

Kabuto watched the scene from the shadows, a smirk playing on his lips as the slaughter played out in front of him. Lord Orochimaru was truly terrifying in the way in which he manipulated people. Be it just a few hours before and Sasuke would have refused to do something like this but the older man had picked the exact moment in which the Uchiha would have agreed. How Orochimaru knew when to ask was beyond him and led to him witnessing, not for the first time, that every single thing the older man did was with a purpose.

The impending war with Konoha.

Killing off two Konoha ninja to prove a point to a single one.

Pulling the strings so that Sasuke would slaughter a camp of simple travelers armed with weapons to fight off wild animals, as he would find out later.

Kabuto smirked as Sasuke cut through another person. Whatever it was that Orochimaru was planning, there was no doubt that it would be a spectacle.

* * *

><p>Naruto got off the bed with a yawn while rubbing his eyes sleepily. The smell of something cooking hit his nostrils as he wandered out of the room in a daze. What he saw made him stop dead on his tracks with a gasp.<p>

"Ah. Naruto, you're awake!" Ino smiled from the kitchen.

If this is what he last saw before death, Naruto was sure he would die in peace.

Ino wearing an apron with her hair in a messy bun... It took an incredible amount of restraint not to take her in his arms.

"Go sit down," she giggled, not at all bothered by the way he was looking at her, mostly because she wanted this reaction out of him.

Not trusting himself to answer properly, he nodded and sat down at the counter of their kitchen. "You know, those guys probably reached Whirlpool by now," he decided to change the subject to calm himself down.

Receiving a hum in reply, he continued, "I'm going to be teaching them a jutsu for the next few days and wanted to take you with me."

"Really?" Ino looked up at him in surprise.

"I did promise."

She smiled in response, "When are we leaving?"

"Probably around noon but keep this a secret from Granny."

"You don't have to tell me that," she rolled her eyes and placed a plate of waffles in front of Naruto who held a look of curiosity. "You'll like them, trust me."

Naruto hummed to himself as he took a bite, "It's good!"

**Ch.32 End**


	33. A Shaky Alliance

**Holy crap, sorry for taking so long to update guys! **

**The truth is that I have tried to improve my writing and it ended up being way harder than I thought it would. Hopefully I improved a little.**

**Next chapter is all written but it should be out until tomorrow since I have to check for errors. Anyway, sorry for the long wait and I hope you like this chapter. **

* * *

><p><strong>Naruto: Making of a Hokage<strong>

_**The Gathering Arc**_

**Ch.33 A Shaky Alliance  
><strong>

"You ready?" Naruto's asked loudly enough for Ino to hear on their bedroom. He was in the living room getting ready to travel to Whirlpool by laying out a couple of large scrolls on the floor.

"I think we have everything..." Ino trailed off when seeing the condition the living room was in.

The couches were lazily moved aside, as was the coffee table currently standing against a wall. To say that Naruto cared about anything breaking would be like saying that he did not like ramen. It was no wonder why his old apartment was rarely clean.

"Hey Naruto."

"Hm?"

A tick mark formed on her forehead at his casual tone, "You better clean all this up when we get back!"

He waved a hand dismissively, "Don't worry, I'll have the clones-"

"Don't even think about it," Ino interrupted in a scolding tone, "You're relying too much on the clone jutsu to take care of chores. From now on you better stop that, otherwise you'll get lazy."

"B-But I train all the time!"

"You like to train though," she responded before raising a finger, "Tell me, when was the last time you cleaned without using clones?"

Naruto tried to argue but the words died in his throat when he realized that she was completely right. In his defense, anyone that could summon so many clones would probably do the same thing. Not only were clones huge time savers when it came to cleaning and other annoying stuff, but they always organized stuff the way he wanted them to.

But he had to admit that the more he thought about it, the more his reasoning started sounding like a big excuse to not do those things himself. Maybe Ino had a point, besides what would the person who invented the jutsu think if he saw it being used for household chores?

Ino placed her hands on her hips, "From now on you won't use clones to help your chores, got it?"

"G-Got it," he answered with a hung head.

"Now that we got that out of the way tell me about how we're leaving the village," she decided to change the conversation to what was eating at her curiosity for a while. Earlier he had promised to tell her all about some jutsu he would use to make them leave the village undetected.

Naruto nodded while scanning the scrolls one last time just to make sure everything was perfect, if it wasn't then he could blow up half the living room. "Some time into my training with Jiraiya-sensei, he told me all about my heritage and taught me how to use the Fourth's signature technique... the Flying Thunder God Jutsu," his eyes showed a hint of longing as he continued to explain, "By using this we'll be able to teleport to a set of seals I told the others to place in Whirlpool."

Ino nodded absently, watching the scrolls in silent amazement as Naruto kept on talking.

"Still, just because I know how to use it doesn't mean I can use it like the Fourth did. When I use it it takes a while to prepare and takes a lot out of me, that's why I rarely use it. Hopefully it'll get easier with time and with the others helping share some of the load."

She took in his explanation and quietly watched as her boyfriend looked over the scrolls while her thoughts drifted away. Truth be told, leaving the village without consent to form an organization made up of some of the most important ninja of the respective villages they escaped from was, without much surprise, something that could land them in a large amount of trouble. Thankfully Tsunade trusted both of them enough not to bat an eye when they suddenly asked for a week off, not that she hadn't asked a couple of questions but it was played off as Naruto needing more time off and her wanting to be there for him.

"Finally done."

His voice snapped her out of her thoughts, "What do I do then?"

"Just sit in front of me and close your eyes, things can get a bit dizzy the first time."

Nodding, Ino sat in front of Naruto while he closed his eyes to concentrate. She did the same and tried to prepare herself for the sudden push or whatever happened when the jutsu was used. A brief flash of light registered but it was gone almost instantly.

"We're here."

"Huh?" She let out involuntarily before opening her eyes and letting out a gasp. They were not on their living room anymore, but on a small clearing surrounded by tropical trees. "When did we?!"

Naruto couldn't help but laugh, "This is how fast the jutsu is." He extended his hand out to her and helped her up, "You okay?"

"Yeah," she nodded though a bit disoriented, "Let's go find the others."

He gave her hand a squeeze and led her into the woods.

* * *

><p>Sasuke Uchiha leaned on the railing of a small balcony outside one of Orochimaru's rare bases that were built above ground. He was watching in mild-interest as hundreds of ninja stood in lines and listened to Orochimaru give one of his usual speeches that, as he had explained, were to keep a high morale and prevent any last minute trouble.<p>

Just like the old bastard to manipulate people so easily.

Putting that aside though, his attention turned to the few stray thoughts coming to him from time to time. Thoughts ranging from how he'd gotten much stronger than before, possibly strong enough to face Itachi at last. To the odd temptation of thwarting Orochimaru's plans to destroy Konoha just for the hell of it.

At first he felt disgusted with himself, believing that part of him wanted to save Konoha from its impending doom, but now that he thought about it that was not the case at all. Sasuke was not one for quiet exits, it didn't matter what village the old bastard was plotting to attack, he wanted to destroy his plans simply because he hated the man.

"How curious. You're not one to listen to Lord Orochimaru's speeches, what brought this change?"

"None of your business Kabuto."

Sasuke frowned and kept an eye on the medic ninja who moved to stand at his side. Kabuto was at Orochimaru's side for a reason, dropping his guard around someone like this was never going to happen no matter how much stronger he'd gotten. There was something about the medic that really put him on edge. It was like while Orochimaru was comparable to a snake through and through, Kabuto always gave the impression of being something else hidden in the shadows, dangerous and a lot more cunning that he let on.

There was no way Kabuto was following Orochimaru out of simple devotion, there had to be some ulterior motive that even the old bastard knew about.

"Always so hostile, not that I blame you," Kabuto chuckled as he adjusted his glasses and looked down at the many ninja listening to Orochimaru. "We know that you're plotting on leaving." Hearing nothing from the Uchiha, the medic continued, "Lord Orochimaru wants to drug and imprison you as soon as possible."

"Why are you telling me this?"

"Would you believe me if I told you that I legitimately care about what happens to you?"

At the question, Sasuke looked at Kabuto blankly, making him laugh.

"Of course you wouldn't," the medic chuckled in amusement before smirking, "You see Sasuke... as someone who's been at Lord Orochimaru's side for some time, there are many things that I've learned, some of which he didn't want me to. But this knowledge cannot help me, in the end it comes down to me being painfully weaker than him, and this gap will only grow larger with time."

Kabuto adjusted his glasses, his smirk still in place, "I propose you and I join forces."

Sasuke scoffed at the idea, "Why should I? I'm sure that I can leave this place before he has a chance to do whatever it is he's thinking to me."

"But that's where you're wrong Sasuke."

The voice of the medic was suddenly much more devious. He didn't know what to make of it, but he knew that it was a bad thing for Kabuto to act so casual and confident at a time like this.

"Lord Orochimaru has already made his move. That's why I'm standing here. He's tasked me with drugging you and taking you to one of our cells. Of course, you could always kill me and escape but Lord Orochimaru has a plan of action if that were to happen."

So he was stuck between a rock and a hard place...

He had to smirk at the way Kabuto managed to squeeze himself between his and Orochimaru's plans. Even so, it all came down to the decision he made. Would he join forces with Kabuto or try his luck against the old bastard? In the past he probably would have sought out a fight with Orochimaru but now he knew better, pride would not dictate his choices anymore.

"Fine, I'll help you kill Orochimaru."

"I knew you would," Kabuto uttered mostly to himself with an amused expression. "Make sure not to kill me when you wake up."

"What?"

Without warning, the medic jammed a chakra scalpel into the Uchiha's chest, drawing a grunt before he fell unconscious. Kabuto caught him easily and looked down at the unconscious ninja in thought.

"Oh my, it seems I underestimated myself," Kabuto chuckled to himself with a smirk on his face, "The temptation of tearing out your sharingan is too much."

The medic had to calm himself before he did anything hasty, reminding himself that even if he tore out the sharingan and took it for himself there was no way he would stand a chance against Orochimaru. Only with Sasuke's cooperation could he hope to kill his Lord.

"I'll take you to Orochimaru for now... Rest easy Sasuke, I'll try not to get you killed."

* * *

><p>Ino felt a bit out of place as she watched the four ninja exchange greetings.<p>

There was an unmistakeable air of mutual respect around them, stemming from the fact that they had lived pretty rough childhoods. She was the odd one out, so when Naruto introduced her to them she couldn't help but feel a bit nervous.

"This is Ino, my girlfriend," Naruto introduced her with a smile.

"A pleasure," Utakata bowed slightly, making Ino do the same.

"Always with your polite crap," Fu rolled her eyes with a snigger, earning a look from Utakata. Soon enough the two were arguing like always.

Yugito nodded at Ino and pointed at the two arguing jinchuuriki, "Don't mind them, they're always like this."

"I had a feeling this would happen," Naruto laughed.

Fu looked back at the blond with a frown, "What's that supposed to mean?"

"'It means that the two of you are more alike than you think," Yugito cut in with her arms crossed. "In any case we found a mostly intact building where we can talk more comfortably."

Ino smiled to herself, just when it looked like Fu was about to argue, Yugito switched the conversation to a more serious subject. She decided that she liked the older kunoichi even if she was a bit intimidating.

As the group left the area, Naruto looked towards the ocean's horizon, his expression a bit troubled.

Even though he tried, there was no information about a ninja wearing an orange mask. With the threat of the Akatsuki and Orochimaru looming over everyone every single day, having a mysterious ninja with the ability to appear out of thin air was more than worrying, even more so when they didn't know what his intentions were.

On top of all that Jiraiya hadn't responded to his messages. He was positive that his sensei had received them but felt like he was being left out because of the old man trying to protect him in some way.

Naruto frowned at that and followed the others.

* * *

><p>Knowledge was the greatest advantage one could have, Tobi knew this full well but to him there was nothing that could match past and present in usefulness. To be able to step back and watch as everything unfolded around him gave him the ability to predict based not only in facts, but in the current shaky relationships between certain villages.<p>

Under no circumstances did he believe that any other sort of knowledge wasn't useful, but he believed that one should always pick the sharpest kunai out of the others. While still useful in some ways, the dull kunai couldn't cut as deep or swiftly. That's why he mostly focused on his two preferred sources of knowledge; past and present, the sharpest kunai from his metaphor.

Keeping the present as the most influential and seeing patterns from the past, by taking these two things it was almost like he could see hundreds of pieces moving. He could even take a piece and place it wherever he wanted to achieve a favorable result.

Speaking of moving pieces, he heard something behind him and didn't have to turn around to know that it was Zetsu.

"How is everything?"

"It was just like you predicted, four of the jinchuuriki have gone to Whirlpool. Looks like the Akatsuki won't be able to get them for some time."

Nodding at the news, Tobi crossed his arms and regarded the valley surrounding their small base of operations. Nothing grand but why should it be? Unlike certain individuals, he didn't need various large bases to operate efficiently.

A brief silence passed between the two mysterious ninja before the masked man crossed his arms and spoke.

"Continue to watch over the jinchuuriki and keep an eye on Orochimaru. We have to make sure his moves continue to go as planned." Tobi instructed, receiving a bow of compliance from Zetsu who disappeared into the ground with a grin on the black portion of his face.

* * *

><p>Naruto and Ino were led into a large building that, besides a giant hole on the ceiling, was otherwise in perfect condition, even spacious enough to be used to train if necessary. Of course they would need to clean out the rubble on the brown tiled floors, but that was only a minor inconvenience.<p>

"First things first, when are we going to learn the Flying Thunder God Jutsu?" Yugito asked, not wasting any time.

"I'd like to start as soon as possible. Ino and I are going to be heading back to the village every night so we should make the most of our time."

Fu looked at him oddly, "Why go through all that trouble? You should just stay here."

"Our Hokage doesn't know we're gone and trust me when I say that she'll probably notice if we stay here all the time," Naruto answered truthfully.

"Does the Hokage have you under surveillance?" Utakata wondered with a raised eye brow.

Naruto shook his head quickly, not wanting them to get the wrong idea. "It's not like that at all. She's um..."

"She and Naruto are close," Ino answered for him.

"I see."

"We're getting off track here. Whether you stay here or not is not really important. Let's just focus on learning the jutsu," Yugito put them back on track with a stern voice.

Naruto nodded and sat on the floor, motioning for the others to do so as well.

"In order for us to use this jutsu together, we need control over everything else. We'll be focusing our chakra on a seal and have to make sure that we are all using around the same amount of chakra. Depending on how much chakra is used, the seal will activate faster, but let's take it one step at a time." Naruto pulled out a scroll from one of his pockets and unraveled it on the floor.

The white of the scroll had several faded markings on the edges and a large circular pattern on the center. Naruto put his hand on the scroll and, brow furrowing in concentration, the faded markings he was touchings began to turn a deep black color.

"We'll be practicing on this. The goal of this exercise is to make all of the faded markings black by adding chakra but if you add too much..." the markings burned a bright red before dying down as Naruto took his hand off, "They will turn red. This will help us get a good idea of how to balance our chakra together."

With that said, the group of ninja nodded silently with the exception of Fu who smirked and threw a hand in the air.

"Let's get this started!"

* * *

><p>Ino smiled happily as soon as she sat on their very comfortable couch. It was something she did at her parents house too whenever she came back from a mission, relax and be appreciative of the things she had taken for granted. After a day of sitting on a hard floor to train for the teleportation jutsu, the couch felt more and more like the most wonderful thing in the world.<p>

Naruto smiled at the sight and sat next to her with an equally relieved expression.

"Hey. Who said you could relax with me?" Ino looked at him blankly.

"I thought that my beautiful girlfriend would like some company."

Smiling at his playful tone she leaned on his shoulder with a grin, "She does, but her boyfriend is going to be busy making dinner."

That's right, how could he forget? After moving in together they had decided to split the chores, today was his turn to cook, none of the stuff he'd learned with Jiraiya because she hated it, but one of the dishes she taught him how to make. He'd learned a few dishes and, unlike his carnivorous sensei who exclusively cooked meat during their travels, she liked to have vegetables as sides. Personally, he didn't think he'd ever truly like them but it was only fair that she got to eat the stuff she liked.

He got off the sofa and couldn't help but tease Ino a little bit after seeing the smug look on her face, "Fine I'll make dinner but don't expect me to get naked and wear nothing but an apron."

As a reflex she instantly pictured what he just said and blushed madly, "W-What kind of pervert do you think I am?"

"But if you insist..." He took off his shirt and pulled on the waistband of his pants.

"We'll go to Ichiraku's alright? I'm not in the mood for your weird stuff right now!"

"Eh? My Ino-chan is not the timid type, why is she suddenly acting so shy... Just a couple of nights ago you-"

"Let's go eat with my parents! I'm sure my dad's back!"

Naruto paled at her words, he'd rather take on the Akatsuki than her dad. He still remembered that spoon threat!

"Ichiraku's sounds fine."

"I thought so," Ino smiled.

"But now that I think about it..." he leaned close to her ear, his breath sending shivers down her spine. "I wouldn't mind seeing _you _in nothing but an apron."

The effect was instant, her cheeks reddened and before she could do anything he ran out the door while laughing loudly. Once he was out of the apartment she couldn't help but smile, happy to see his playful attitude at full swing again.

For a moment she felt herself relax and wondered if Naruto really meant what he said. Something like that... she supposed she could do it on a special occasion or something, it certainly wouldn't be the first time he saw her naked but the thought of wearing nothing _but _the apron seemed a bit embarrassing.

"I guess if he really wants to..." Ino muttered to herself with a meek blush.

"Ino! You coming?"

Naruto's voice came from outside and snapped her out of her thoughts. She paled at what she'd been thinking and followed after him in a huff.

Freaking idiot, putting weird ideas in her head.

**Ch.33 End**


	34. Cloudy With a Chance of Rain

**Naruto: Making of a Hokage**

_**The Gathering**_** Arc**

**Ch.34 Cloudy With a Chance of Rain**

It was nighttime in Konoha and the moon's silver rays peeked through the curtains of Naruto and Ino's bedroom, both of which were asleep but in much different manners. While Ino peacefully slumbered covered on the comforter of their comfy bed, Naruto was a different story.

Tossing and turning, the jinchuuriki winced and clutched his stomach in visual pain but he didn't wake up. Still deep in slumber he grimaced and groaned as a few strands of red chakra came out of his body before fading silently. It wasn't until a sharp pain suddenly struck his stomach that Naruto opened his red eyes and bit back a moan of pain.

_'What the hell is hurting so much? My body feels so...hot!'_

He almost jumped out of bed, his chest heaving up and down as his sweat covered face glistened in the moonlight.

"I need water..." Naruto muttered to himself and walked out of the room heading for the kitchen. Cold water, it was all he needed to feel better, nothing more.

The floor felt uncomfortably cold on his feet but the cold water he drank in a rush felt amazing, so much that he quickly poured himself another glass and downed it as soon as possible.

He felt a bit better and crumpled on the living room couch with a long sigh.

Tonight marked the first night since he and Ino moved in together, that he had a nightmare. It was bound to happen at some point but something was off this time. Waking up covered in sweat was nothing new but the lingering burning pain in his stomach and how hot he felt were.

The Kyuubi.

That had to be it, the fox was messing with him again to try to gain control of his body. It wasn't above him to pull stuff like this but why did he wait until now to do it? He'd been much more vulnerable before so why wait?

Naruto mulled it over silently and decided to go against his first instinct, which was to go see the Kyuubi face to face, and wait for it to stop on its own. Having a bad dream once was not enough reason to go see the demon, their meetings always weighed heavily in his mind after all and he had a feeling that he wouldn't be able to handle it today.

He crossed his arms and melted on the couch with a yawn. If it happened again then he would do something about it.

* * *

><p>The exercise to balance their chakra together was really annoying.<p>

Ino realized that everyone felt that way when an hour ago, Naruto had told them to start where they left off yesterday and a collective groan was his response. As it turned out, balancing the amount of chakra they put into the scroll was a lot harder than it seemed. They always started out okay, the markings just a bit off but almost identical, until one of them messed up and took them back to step one.

Everyone, including Naruto, was visually frustrated by this exercise which did not help their cause. What they needed was to be in a calm state of mind if they wanted to balance their chakra together.

"Boss."

A clone broke the group's concentration and the black markings faded away.

"What the hell?!" Fu yelled at Naruto while the others sent him dark looks.

"I'll be right back," Naruto stated nervously and switched places with the clone.

Yugito, being the most mature and restraint of the bunch put everyone back on track with a simple, "Let's begin." They all complied, even the feisty looking clone that looked like he'd rather be somewhere else couldn't go against the authoritative older jinchuuriki.

Ino watched the scene silently and remembered something Naruto had told her earlier in the morning. She had found him dozing off on the couch and when she asked why he told her that he'd gotten up earlier to think about the day's training. Some way or another the conversation shifted to the different jinchuuriki.

Naruto had said that he liked how things were going with them, all of them sharing their abilities and working together for something great. Saying that, it was still unavoidable that at some point they would need someone to step up and lead them in the right direction. When that time came he had said that Yugito would probably be that person.

While she may have been a bit skeptical at first, Ino could see it now. Yugito's mere presence demanded respect and everyone took her advice to heart, this seen a lot of times during their training when they received pointers from the older kunoichi, she reminded her of Tsunade in that they were both strong and competent.

Ino smiled to herself and continued with the training.

"Shit!" The clone cursed when his marking turned bright red.

A deathly silence went over the group before they continued with the exercise.

* * *

><p>Three days passed in the blink of an eye. During this time Naruto and the others managed to balance the amount of chakra they used together and were making steady progress with the actual jutsu. It looked like everything was going great but, noticing his frequent leaves during training, Ino wondered what Naruto was up to.<p>

Knowing him it's probably training, she reasoned and it didn't seem too farfetched to think so. At least he left clones to help with their training for the jutsu while he was gone.

Now that they had gotten past the first exercise, it was time for the second and last one. This training used the actual scroll for the jutsu and they all found it really easy, probably because they knew how to balance their chakra together.

"If you ask me we're more than ready for the Flying Thunder God Jutsu," Fu, ever the confident one, stated with a grin.

"I hate to agree with you but it looks that way," Utakata said in a pleasant tone.

Noticing the way Fu looked at her teammate, Yugito broke in before they got into another argument, "Fu's right. I suppose the next step will be to use the jutsu."

"Yeah, it's time to try it out," the real Naruto said as he entered the large room with a smile.

Ino's brow furrowed when taking in his condition. He looked a little out of breath and his clothes were a bit dirty, but most notable was the way he was smiling. It wasn't the usual smile he wore all the time, this one looked more...triumphant.

"Let's get started," he undid a scroll tied to his waist and spread it out on the floor.

* * *

><p>Kabuto was flung across the dark room of a lab and then pinned to the wall by the neck.<p>

"What the hell did you do to me?!"

The medic found himself smirking despite the situation, it looked like Sasuke had woken up from his three-day slumber in a really grumpy mood.

"What's so funny you bastard?"

"Nothing, it's just that you're quite upset over something we had no control over."

Sasuke looked at him oddly and Kabuto took it as his cue to explain.

"Lord Orochimaru expected me to prevent you from leaving under non-negotiable means. What would he think if you were suddenly compliant? Nothing good, right? That's why I had to put you to sleep and wait for Orochimaru to stop breathing down my neck."

The Uchiha saw the logic on the explanation but it didn't mean that he liked being knocked unconscious like that. Regardless, he let the medic go and made a mental note to pay him back tenfold once Orochimaru was dead, but first he needed some answers.

"Time to fill me in on what's going on Kabuto."

"With pleasure," Kabuto bowed slighlty and began his explanation.

"It has been three days since I put you to sleep. During this time Orochimaru has been too busy on the incoming invasion of Konoha to meddle with your body, doesn't mean he didn't try but I was miraculously able to change his mind. In any case, right now Lord Orochimaru is in his throne room with a couple of his commanding ninja going over the invasion."

He adjusted his glasses and chuckled, "Quite the perfect time to take him down, don't you think?"

Sasuke nodded, his sharingan coming to life.

"Let's go kill the snake."

* * *

><p>He hadn't found any information on the new seal of Naruto's but at least he found a good lead. With a few more days he was sure to find some answers, at least that's what Jiraiya thought before receiving grave news. The Akatsuki were on the move once again and unlike usual it wasn't just a couple of them but <em>all <em>of them.

Jiraiya, having been only a village away from where a spy had spotted a group of Akatsuki members, knew that there wasn't any time to lose. Seeing the direction in which they were headed, it was safe to say that Akatsuki was headed for the Leaf Village, which was pretty damned close too. With that in mind he had sent Tsunade a message and moved to intercept the Akatsuki before they got too close.

_'I hope she gets it in time,' _he thought in worry.

The Toad Sage currently stood at the foot of a large hill with his arms crossed and two Toads on either of his shoulders, Fukasaku and Shima. They stayed like that, silent and calm until the sound of footsteps seemed to echo in the area. The Akatsuki had members stopped a decent distance away from the Great Toad Sage, their cloaks and straw hats fluttering with the wind.

"What are the odds of running into you here?" Jiraiya quipped in a light tone that clashed with the very serious nature of their meeting.

A wave of silence settled over the area once more as tension filled the air. Both Jiraiya and the Akatsuki were well-aware of the fact that not all of them were going to walk out of here alive.

_'No matter what happens to me, I have to buy the village enough time to prepare,' _Jiraiya steeled his resolve as the area was darkened by a cloud covering the sun.

* * *

><p>Tsunade knew the instant the Messenger Toad appeared at her office that something was horribly wrong. As she read over the contents of Jiraiya's message she knew that she'd been right.<p>

"Shizune, gather as many Jonin as you can immediately."

"Yes ma'am."

With Shizune looking for the Jonin, Tsunade looked up at the ceiling knowing full well that a group of trusted ninja waited her call at every second, "ANBU!"

In an instant a couple of armored ANBU members appeared before her, heads bowed and mouths shut as they waited for orders.

"The Akatsuki are on their way here. Jiraiya is going to hold them off for as long as he can but in the meantime we have to get ready. Get every available ANBU member ready for combat and meet outside of this building, I'll have the Jonin join you shortly."

"Understood!" The ANBU replied and disappeared once again.

With them ready to attack, that left evacuation to every available Chunin and Genin. There was no guarantee that they would get a lot of time, much less when it was the leader of the Akatsuki that was on the move, but they had to do the best with what they had. They owed it to Jiraiya.

Tsunade balled her hands into fists, "Please be safe Jiraiya."

With that she left her office, she had much to do.

* * *

><p>"Jiraiya-sensei."<p>

The Sage's eyes widened at the title.

Two of the Akatsuki members stepped forward, one of them pulling down the hat to reveal orange hair, "It seems you do not remember me. Then again, it's expected for someone like you to forget."

Jiraiya felt as if he'd been hit by a bucket of cold water. There was simply no way that those kids he had taken care of in his younger days had turned into _this. _

In a grim tone a single name left his lips, "Yahiko..."

"It's been far too long...Jiraiya-sensei," Yahiko mused with a blank look on his face,"Tell me, how is it that we manage to run into Konoha ninja so much? Judging by the fact that _you _are the one intercepting us, I can assume that you are the one that's been having those annoying ants leaking information."

Jiraiya frowned at that.

"Did it ever occur to you that those ants would be found? Did your really think that the location of the Akatsuki leader would be leaked so easily? No, that would never happen unless..."

"It's a trap," the sage finished for the Akatsuki leader.

"Precisely."

The two other Akatsuki members took off their hats to reveal equally orange hair with purple rippled eyes. Most noticeable to Jiraiya was the fact that they all had several black rods embedded into their skin. He had no idea what they meant, for all he knew they could be some sort of jutsu to pinpoint the location of the rods.

Jiraiya shook off those thoughts, the most important thing to focus on right now was what the trap was for. Did Yahiko want to kill him? Or did he have something else in mind?

* * *

><p>Jiraiya was a most formidable foe, one that wouldn't be taken down without suffering a setback in his plans. That's precisely why he found one of the ants leaking information, ripped information out of his head, and finally gave false information to the ant's contacts.<p>

The plan worked to perfection. With Jiraiya busy fighting a corpse and two of his own bodies, there was no one that could stand against them.

A light rain began to fall as the three Akatsuki members stood before the large gates of Konoha. They arrived earlier than planned but in the end, he preferred to arrive early.

"This village shall know pain." Pain stated coldly. He noticed two ninja watching the gate looking at him in fear. "Konan."

The Akatsuki member nodded and closed in on the Konoha ninja at a fast speed.

"Do not worry," Pain addressed the other Akatsuki member, "Konan and I can take care of the village, you can go carry out your revenge."

The mysterious Akatsuki member nodded and ran to the trees with a different goal and destination in mind.

* * *

><p>It wasn't often that Kakashi was a witness to the clear divide between the average ninja and the ANBU but now, seeing them side by side, it was more than obvious. Though all of those present had gone through many vicious battles in their lives, it was clear that those in the ANBU carried themselves far more seriously, that they had experienced unimaginable things. Kakashi himself had seen things he'd never speak of.<p>

"As per the orders of Lady Hokage, we will be the first defensive line of Konoha. Our first goal is to make sure that the Chunin and Genin safely evacuate the villagers!" Then Anbu captain spoke clearly and loudly, "ANBU will be in the front lines with the Jonin close behind!"

"Sir!" An ANBU appeared in a cloud of smoke with clear urgency in his voice, "The Akatsuki have been spotted in the South Gate."

"Let's move!" The ANBU captain roared.

Everyone was on the move almost instantly and Kakashi noticed that, as everyone moved rapidly through the village, that there was suddenly no divide. Every ninja present had the same job and goal; the protection of their village.

* * *

><p>Deep in the mountains of Cloud, three Akatsuki members stood not too far from a large cave. This cave was said to be the Eight-Tails' training space and far enough from the village to not cause a ruckus, the perfect location for capture. Under normal circumstances they wouldn't care about cutting down waves of ninja but their leader demanded the job done as swiftly as possible.<p>

"So, where the hell is this fucker?" Hidan asked with his scythe resting on the back of his neck.

Before either of his partners could answer the question, a lone figure walked out of the cave.

"Any more questions?" Kakuzu responded.

"He's into kenjutsu... Leave this to me," said Kisame as he took Samehada and pointed it at the Eight-Tails. "We're here for you jinchuuriki."

"Here for me~ The Rapping Killer Bee?~" Bee rapped and even danced without a care in the world, clearly not intimidated by the imposing enemies. "The masked man~ Told me you'd arrive~ Now I'll kick your ass~"

Kisame smirked and got ready to fight.

* * *

><p>Naruto was more than happy with the results of the jutsu. Sure, they only had teleported to areas around Whirlpool but there were almost no problems with the execution.<p>

"Told you it wouldn't take us long to learn the jutsu!" Fu announced proudly with her hands on her hips.

"Looks like you were," he grinned.

Yugito looked between them with a smile before asking a question, "So what now?"

"We fix up the village while we wait for information on other jinchuuriki. Anyone know anything?"

"I do actually," Yugito responded with her arms crossed, "In my old village there is another. Jinchuuriki of the Eight-Tails, Killer Bee."

Ino was surprised at that, "Cloud actually had two jinchuuriki?"

Naruto bit his lip to think. The Cloud village was nothing to scoff at, to be honest the fact that Yugito was here with them was nothing short of a miracle, but now that they had lost her they probably kept better tabs on Killer Bee.

"We'll recruit him some other time, for now let's focus on finding information on any of the others. I'll go back to Konoha real quick, I'm sure I can dig something up."

"I'll go with you." Ino stepped up, "If I don't report with Lady Tsunade then we'll be in trouble."

Utakata rubbed his chin, "Before you go there's something I would like to know. You see I've been wondering how you are able to travel to Konoha using the jutsu. When we used it, we only moved to places within this village."

"Remember how I showed you guys how to make the seals for the jutsu?" Receiving nods in response, Naruto continued, "Well, one of the marks is changed to correspond with the seals we travel to. For example, did you notice that I changed one of the marks each time we used the jutsu?"

"I see," Utakata nodded in understanding.

Naruto reached into the many scrolls tied behind his waist, and tossed one to him, "Here. That scroll has the marks to the seals I've spread around so far. Well, if that's all then Ino and I will get going, we'll be back soon though."

"Take care," Yugito nodded at them.

The couple walked away from the group and Naruto laid out a scroll on the ground.

"Ready to go home."

Ino smiled, "Yeah. I need a long shower, this weather is not good for my hair."

"What are you talking about? I like frizzy Ino."

"Do you want to die?"

The temperature lowered several levels and he gulped, "S-Sorry, I'll take us home now."

With that the couple disappeared in a yellow flash.

**Ch.34 End**

**Well this is the end of the 'The Gathering' Arc. As you can tell it was mostly to set up this next arc and I can't wait to write it. Not sure when I'll be able to update again but I'll try not to take as long as I did before. This time I mean it though.**


	35. Almighty Push

**I may sound like a broken record, but I'm very sorry to have taking so long to update. Truth is I've had a terrible case of writer's block. I already know how the story is going to play out, but I have a terrible hard time in writing the chapter for reasons I don't know. **

**Thankfully after backing off for a bit, I was surprised to see how easy it was to write this chapter. I wish I was a bit better at writing but at least you guys won't be kept waiting. So from now on, expect more updates. This time I mean it though. It I don't go through then I'll let you come over and slap me on the face.**

**Naruto: Making of a Hokage**

_**The Gathering Arc**_

**Ch.35 Almighty Push**

As soon as he entered Sage Mode, Jiraiya was on the move.

"Fireball Jutsu!"

Flames shot out of Jiraiya's mouth, engulfing whatever was in front of him, but the three of the Akatsuki quickly jumped high in the air. However, the Toad Sage was well aware of the possibility, and the two toads on his shoulders released a joint attack of sound waves.

One of the Akatsuki members quickly put himself between the attack and the other two and, much to the shock of Jiraiya, absorbed the jutsu.

"We should take care of 'im first," Fukasaku said.

"You got that right," Jiraiya replied as he thrust his hands to the ground, "Summoning Jutsu!"

A large cloud of smoke appeared beneath the Sage's feet as he was lifted upwards by the head of a large purple toad. When he noticed that two of the Akatsuki members who here still in the air, dove towards him, he was quick to run through hand signs quickly.

"Sage Arts: Mud Dome!"

The ground around the toad raised high and then curved inwards to make a large dome with Jiraiya and the toad inside. One of the Akatsuki ran through hand signs and thrust both hands forward to create a powerful blast of wind that broke a piece of the dome. However, as soon as the hole was made, a blazing flames shot out of it and engulfed the Akatsuki member, leaving nothing but ashes.

Yahiko frowned as the fire died down and the hole on the dome was restored. Attacking head on was futile, and because this body lacked the ability to use his Rinnegan to its full potential, he couldn't simply eradicate the wall. If that was the case then...

"Earth Style: Dark Swamp."

By placing his two hands on the ground, the ground beneath the dome was turned into a muddy mess that caused it to break and come down. At that moment, the large purple toad jumped out of the debris and spat out a jet of oil that covered his other body.

"Sage Arts: Toad Oil Fireball!" Jiraiya shot fire out of his mouth and ignited the oil, setting anything it touched ablaze, including his other body. However, as expected, it absorbed the jutsu. But now with the member preoccupied, the Toad Sage set his sights on Yahiko.

"Giant Rasengan!" Jumping off the toad, Jiraiya created a massive Rasengan that was many times the size of his body, and dove towards the leader of the Akatsuki.

"Futile." Yahiko said. "Fireball Jutsu," he let loose a slow-moving fireball towards the Sage, before following up by placing his hand around his mouth, "Devastation."

Jiraiya cursed as the fast-moving wind made contact with the fire and set off a powerful explosion that sent him hurling through the air, and before he could fall, the other Akatsuki member caught him in the air and put him in a painfully firm grip that threatened to break his back.

The Sage was not out of options as his hair lengthened and wrapped around the torso of the Akatsuki member before it spiked and pierced his body. Blood flowed out of the enemy as the spiked hair tightened around the body before his grip finally became weak enough for Jiraiya to get out of.

"Impressive indeed, Jiraiya-sensei," Yahiko praised in a stoic manner. "Fighting you has proven to be much more troublesome than I first thought. Unfortunately, I cannot fight you with my full power."

The bleeding Akatsuki member left the scene as the old mentor and student faced each other.

"I assume you still need the guy that just left," Jiraiya concluded with a smile. "Or, could he be a corpse you are animating in some way."

"What brought this assumption?"

"He didn't even flinch when I pierced his body. The other body too, there was no scream or anything. Which means that they are probably just puppets."

Yahiko's eyes narrowed slightly, "Troublesome indeed."

* * *

><p>"Ah. Kabuto. Sasuke. I don't remember calling for you."<p>

Orochimaru said calmly, head resting on his left hand as he sat leaning against the side of his throne.

"But you expected us," Kabuto deadpanned. Talking about plans for the invasion had been false, he noticed now, Orochimaru had done it as a subtle way to wait for them to attack.

"You take me for a fool Kabuto." Orochimaru said in amusement. "All the time you've been under me, you have shown marvelous restraint in keeping your bloodlust in check. Were it someone else then they would have been blind to your betrayal, but such things can't be kept from me. I've known about your treachery for years now. I was wondering when it would be that you would finally show your true self, but, to be honest, I never expected you to team up with Sasuke."

Sasuke smirked, "You give yourself too much credit old man."

"He's right Lord Orochimaru." Kabuto said as he pushed up his glasses, "You know that I am not a risk taker. If we had no chance to kill you then standing here against you would be the last thing on my to-do list."

The snake summoner chuckled, darkly, dripping with venom.

He got on his feet.

"No matter. Even if there were ten of you. There is nothing you can do against me."

Sasuke's sharingan came to life as the old man shot forward at an incredible speed.

* * *

><p>Pain and Konan were greeted with empty streets upon entering the village's gate. It seemed that they had been prepared for their arrival, something that must have been because of Jiraiya. The man was dangerous in every way.<p>

It wasn't long before they could spot several figures jumping from roof to roof and moving towards him.

"Start out strong! Attack!" The commanding ANBU shouted.

Ten of the large group of ANBU, jumped high in the air and ran through hand signs. Pain watched with an expressionless face as many powerful jutsu were created and aimed at him. Much to the shock of the Konoha ninja that, despite knowing that the attack certainly wouldn't kill someone so strong, never expected him to simply raise his right hand and create a force field that negated their attacks.

"Konan."

On the name was a single command that only she understood, as her body separated into tiny pieces of paper that easily covered the surrounding area. Some of the more experienced ninja managed to react, but the others weren't so lucky, as hundreds of sharp spears were created from the paper and impaled many of the ninja in the area. Some were killed while others had gaping wounds on their arms and legs that easily rendered them useless for combat.

"Damn it," the ANBU commander cursed. Around ten had been killed by the surprise attack. "Attack Formation Number Thirty!"

Five ANBU charged in at the orange-haired Akatsuki member and, as more spears formed to attack, another three ANBU provided cover with various water jutsu that pushed the attacks away. Once the five were close enough they formed a circle around the enemy and ran through hand signs.

"Foolish." Said Pain as he thrust a hand on the ground and summoned a massive three-headed monstrosity with black rods on its body and ripples in its eyes. All around them were instantly blown back as the ferocious beast howled loudly and ran at the group of gathered ninja.

The ANBU leader clenched his fists, preparing a command, but stopped when he felt something sharp on the back of his neck. Turning his head slightly, he noticed the blue-haired Akatsuki member standing behind him with one of the spears on her hand.

"Now tell us. Where is the Nine-Tails?"

* * *

><p>In a flash of yellow, Naruto and Ino arrived in their apartment with content smiles. Their apartment was much cooler than Whirlpool and they could instantly feel the difference.<p>

However, their calm was broken by a series of screams outside.

"What's that?" Ino wondered out loud as she set some of her stuff on the table.

"Don't know," Naruto answered as he opened the sliding door to their balcony and saw a large group of people being led by Genin. "Huh?"

"Hurry! There are already battles at the gate!"

Naruto frowned and jumped down to one of the Genin giving orders, "Hey, what's going on here?"

"N-Naruto!" The Genin let out in shock, awe on his tone, but he quickly broke out of his admiration, "Sir. Some group of people are invading the village. They're called the Akatsuki or something."

The instant he heard that, Naruto paled and ran back to the apartment, where he saw a worried Ino.

"Naruto, what's wrong?"

"They're here."

* * *

><p>Tsunade tapped her foot impatiently as she watched another group of villagers enter one of the many evacuation tunnels she had gotten built once she became Hokage. Made with a lot of Earth jutsu specialist, as well as help from Yamato, the tunnels were well-made and led out of the village. She never thought that they would need them so quickly but was thankful that they had been made without a hitch.<p>

Still.

It was taking longer than she thought for everyone to flee, and from where she was, she could make out that there was a battle on the South Gate. Even with the ANBU she knew that they could only slow them down until their strongest ninja could take him on, and even then she wasn't sure they could do it. Jiraiya himself wasn't sure if he could beat the Akatsuki leader.

Suddenly, in the distance, she noticed a massive cloud of smoke and an equally giant beast appear.

"What is that?" She said, her voice filled with concern.

The creature began to wreck havoc, destroying buildings and taking on countless of jutsu as if they were nothing.

"Lady Tsunade!"

She turned to see Sakura joining her on the balcony of her office.

"The last of the villagers have been evacuated."

"It was about time," she responded, "Stay here and care for the wounded."

"I can't do that," Sasuke responded heatedly, "I'm not about to stay back and watch everything from a safe distance. Please let me go with you."

Tsunade felt a bit of pride at those words and nodded, "Fine. But if things get too rough I want you out of there. After me, you're the best medic in the village, we'll need you alive."

Sakura nodded before the two left the area.

* * *

><p>"Most of our members are here and accounted for my Lord."<p>

Danzo nodded as he heard the report from his ninja.

Sitting behind a large desk in a dark room, he was well-aware of the fact that Konoha would suffer greatly, but he was prepared for the sacrifice. After many years of living in the shadows, Root would finally come out and rule the ruined village.

Even if Tsunade survived, she would be easily dealt with after being in a fight with the Akatsuki. The same applied to any other ninja that opposed him, all would be killed before they could take away his rightful place.

Root would rise from the ground and control the village, just as he always envisioned.

* * *

><p>"Tell me," Jiraiya began in a somber tone. "Why are you doing this?"<p>

"The world we live in is twisted." Yahiko began in a toneless voice, "Only those fortunate enough to have been born in a strong village are safe. Those damned to live anywhere else are cursed to suffering and pain. That is why I will show the world true pain. I will make them live in pain. And then, I will rebuild the world."

Jiraiya glared, "You make yourself sound like a God."

"Sound? How foolish. I _am _a God. A fierce God that will bring this world ruin before making it perfect."

"So you really are a lost cause..." Jiraiya lamented before running through hand sings. "Then you leave me no choice Yahiko!"

The Toad Sage slammed both hands on the ground and caused a whirlpool of mud to form under the Yahiko's feet. Next, the purple toad that stood on the sidelines for the time being, spat out a jet of oil that covered the massive muddy crater on the ground.

"Sage Arts: Toad Oil Fireball!"

The area was lit up in flames that seemed to extend to the heavens. Jiraiya panted as the effects of Sage Mode died down and he came out victorious in their fight.

"It was too easy," he muttered somberly.

"Like he wanted you to kill him," Shima agreed.

"You better get back to Konoha Jiraiya-boy," Fukasaku suggested.

"You're right," Jiraiya nodded before he let out a long sigh, "Dammit. I can't believe I played right into his hands. This is worse than bad."

* * *

><p>Kakashi did not like how things were going.<p>

The massive summon was still rampaging on the streets and the front lines could only slow it down. Since he was with the other Jonin, they weren't instructed to attack yet. He had been in many battles and this was standards, some of the stronger ANBU had been put with them most likely to make out the attacks of the enemy before they attacked with new forces.

But this time was different.

One of the Akatsuki members had fled as soon as the summon had appeared.

Just what were they going to do?

"Above!"

Kakashi looked up and saw that the Akatski member with orange hair was floating in the air and moving upwards.

"Jonin! Bring him down!"

Finally able to attack, Kakashi began to run through hand signs.

* * *

><p>Pain floated high in the air over Konoha. Konan had gotten out of the range of his attack, and his summon had kept the ninja preoccupied enough so that his next attack could go perfectly. Even though he could see that the ninja were preparing to attack him, they were too late, none of their attacks would reach him in time.<p>

"Now this world shall know pain."

"Almighty Push."

**Ch.35 End**

**I know it's short, but I wanted to get this chapter out so that you guys know that I'm still alive.**


	36. Akatsuki Leader Pain

**Naruto: Making of a Hokage**

_**The Gathering Arc**_

**Ch.36 Akatsuki Leader Pain**

A grunt came from Naruto's lips as he pushed himself off the ground.

Almost every structure in his vicinity was now reduced to rubble. He could see ninja buried underneath the debris, some unconscious, while others were struggling to get up. Some did manage to fully get up but others weren't so lucky as their legs were very obviously broken. If things were this bad here, then he didn't want to think about the state of the whole village.

"N-Naruto?" Ino mumbled as she regained consciousness.

Even though he tried to take the blunt of the attack by covering her with his body, the powerful shock wave from the attack had pushed them to the ground where Ino had hit her head pretty badly. Thankfully, after checking it thoroughly, what little he knew about medicine paid off as he realized that the hit wasn't as bad as it had seemed.

"Ino, I want you to stay here and help those that are hurt."

She frowned, "What about you?"

"I'm going to find the person responsible for this," he said, yellow eyes looking focused on something far away.

"Fine, I'll help but when Master Tsunade or Sakura get here, I'm going to go help you."

He smiled at that, "There's just no winning against you... Okay, but be careful, someone else might show up to attack."

Ino nodded and watched him leave. Other times she had watched him go didn't compare to how she felt now. It wasn't that she didn't trust him, but she was on the verge of panic. Naruto was about to go fight someone that had leveled the village with a single attack all by himself. When they got through this she would make sure to drill it into his mind that he shouldn't do things by himself.

"Come back safe, Naruto," she muttered to herself, hand to her chest, before she went over to a wounded ninja.

* * *

><p>Kakashi emerged from the rubble with a grunt of pain. The area around him had been left a total mess, all of the ninja that had been with him had been scattered across the village after taking the blunt of the attack.<p>

"Kakashi."

At the mention of his name, the copy ninja turned to see Asuma walking towards him with a slight limp on his step.

"Can you stand?"

"On one leg," Kakashi answered honestly when looking down at his broken right leg. "Don't worry about me. You should go protect the ones that need it."

"And you don't need it?"

"Even with one leg, I'm still able to take care of myself," he responded with a bit of humor as he slowly got into a standing position.

"At least take this." Asuma handed him a broken piece of wood.

"Thanks."

"I'll go find the Hokage."

Kakashi nodded and watched as Asuma left.

With a bad leg he would only burden whoever was with him. But that didn't matter at the moment. For now he had to make sure to get everyone help.

With that in mind, he sat on the ground and pressed his hands on the ground, "Summoning Jutsu."

* * *

><p>Tsunade's hands glowed in a green hue as she mended the broken bones and wounds of a ninja that had been crushed by a big structure. She could take solace in the fact that the two prior to this patient had been much worse, and were now safely recuperating on the side.<p>

At the same time her student, Sakura, worked diligently to heal any ninja whose wounds were not bad enough to render them out of battle after being healed. Ranging from things like cuts that needed to be closed, to being impales by debris, Sakura did a fine job in getting them back to speed.

"Lady Hokage!"

Asuma approached the village leader, glad to see that she was okay.

"What happened in your end Asuma?"

"A lot of injured ninja just like here. Kakashi's got a broken leg."

Tsunade frowned, "How bad is it?"

"It didn't pierce skin if that's what you're asking. I was hoping one of you could heal him so that he can help if need be."

In times like this it would be much better to heal those that could fight, but if she left the people waiting for her to heal them, then they would most likely be at high risk of death.

"I'll go."

The relief showed on Tsunade's face as soon as she saw Ino arrive.

"Take her to him, Kakashi. Ino's more than capable of fixing his broken leg."

Asuma smiled despite the situation, glad that one of his students had gotten good enough to warrant praise of the Hokage herself.

"Let's go Ino."

"Yes, Asuma-sensei."

* * *

><p>Sasuke was on the defensive the instant that Orochimaru attacked. With the sharingan he was able to dodge each of the blindingly fast strikes that none of the others present could follow, not that they were watching the fight from the sidelines as Kabuto was taking on the two Soudn ninja that had been with Orochimaru.<p>

A muscular bald man punched at Kabuto, but he used a chakra scalpel to stop the first, earning a cry of pain, before he swiftly flicked his wrist and cut and severed the man's hand. However he had no time to rest as the other man was upon him in an instant, throwing a series of punches and kicks that he could barely block.

Long black hair, thin figure, and a mustache that reaches past his chin; this man was a master taijutsu user that put any others to shame. It was no wonder that the medic could barely defend himself, within moments the man would break through his defenses and dish out a beating. But before he could do that, Kabuto chewed on the inside of his mouth and took off a fake molar with a hole on its center. Without wasting any time he blew on it, and a tiny dart shot out and dug into the man's chest.

Kabuto smirked as he received a powerful kick to his torso that sent him flying several feet back. Once on the ground, he got up slowly and adjusted his glasses with a chuckle.

"What's so funny?"

"Look at your chest."

Confused, the man followed the command and noticed a tiny dart on his chest. He quickly took it off and pulled up his brown shirt. To his horror, dark purple lines ran all over his chest and were spreading through his body quickly.

"What is this!?"

"A very deadly poison I created," Kabuto explain. "As it spreads you will lose use of your legs."

When he said that, the man toppled over.

"Next you will lose the ability to speak." The medic smirked when he heard muffled screams. "And finally your heart will stop."

Kabuto laughed to himself and took a step back just in time to avoid a mindless charge by the bald man from earlier.

"It seems my methods were effective." He noted when noticing that the man's hand had regrown. "Impressive. If must have been painful, I imagine."

"You're going to die!"

Pushing up his glasses in response, Kabuto created two chakra scalpels.

At the same time, Sasuke blocked a punch aimed at his chest before retaliating with a kick. Orochimaru easily blocked by raising one of his legs to stop the attack, and then shot out his tongue to wrap around Sasuke's neck.

Surprise, and also disgusted, by the attack, Sasuke quickly took out a blade and cut the tongue off, soliciting a grunt of pain accompanied by a spurt of blood.

With the momentary advantage, Sasuke quickly ran through hand signs.

"Fire Style: Fireball Jutsu!"

Orochimaru retracted his tongue and, with a flexibility that no human could have, somehow slithered his body out of the way just in time to avoid the attack. Next he expanded his neck to get in close enough to the Uchiha in order to bite him with a couple of large fangs that hadn't been there before.

Sasuke raised his blade and blocked the snake summoner's fangs once they were dangerously close.

Not deterred by having a blade intertwined with his teeth, Orochimaru pushed against the force, making the Uchiha skid across the room.

Sasuke's back his a wall and when things were starting to look bad, he infused lightning into his blade, making Orochimaru grunt in pain as he retracted his head from the blade. Smoke came out of his teeth as his head went back to its normal state.

"Not bad Sasuke. Not bad at all."

"I'm just getting started. That wasn't even half of what I can do."

"It seems you're in quite the predicament Lord Orochimaru," Kabuto said mockingly as the body of the large bald man fell lifelessly on the floor. "Even together, you're pets were no match for me."

Orochimaru chuckled.

"Indeed. It seems I bit off more than I can chew, no pun intended," he said, amusement noticeable when he looked at Sasuke. "But the two of you can't ruin my good mood"

Sasuke raised an eyebrow, "What do you mean by that?"

"Simple," he chuckled. "All the plans Kabuto heard, the ones you heard as well. Were fake."

Kabuto narrowed his eyes slightly, "You've been feeding us false information."

"Precisely. For example, did you know that the attack on Konoha has started already. While we are here fighting, a force of hundreds of ninja is already moving towards the village." Orochimaru smiled in a crazed manner as his hair began to turn white. "There is also another thing I never told you Kabuto."

Sasuke and the medic took a step back as dozens of pointed bones began to emerge from Orochimaru's body.

"That's..." Kabuto cursed, recognizing the ability as the one Kimimaro had. Orochimaru had said that it was impossible to transfer himself into the younger body but now he knew that he had lied.

"I don't need either of you alive anymore," Orochimaru laughed, "Now that I have a younger body there is nothing to keep me from killing you both and ripping out the sharingan when I'm done."

Sasuke frowned deeply as lightning danced around his fingertips, "Bring it old man."

* * *

><p>The light rain began to come down hard on the ruins of Konoha as Naruto landed on the middle of a crater that was at least a mile wide. Everything on it had been obliterated, surrounding it were the ruins of the village, which created a perfect circle.<p>

Floating down at a mild pace, was the apparent culprit, a member of the Akatsuki with orange hair.

"You are the Nine-Tails."

Naruto's yellow eyes narrowed, "Who are you?"

"I am Pain, the leader of the Akatsuki."

_'The leader?' _Naruto thought in alarm.

"You are using that strange transformation as well." Pain said, pointing out the orange pigmentation around Naruto's eyes. "Though it is different from what Jiraiya-sensei used. Tell me, is your transformation incomplete, or in control?"

Naruto chuckled dryly, "Jiraiya-sensei? Different than the one he used? Is that supposed to be a subtle way of telling me that you fought Jiraiya-sensei, and that you knew him from before?"

"Subtle? Why would I need to be subtle with you when you are about to perish? Jinchuuriki usually die when their beast is extracted, no?"

Fists clenching, brow furrowing, mouth in a thin line.

Naruto spoke.

"The only one dying today is you!"

* * *

><p>Three ninja with Sound headbands stood on top of a large tree that gave them a view of the Hidden Leaf Village. They had watched as the village crumbled under a massive attack, giving them an amazing opportunity to carry out their destruction of the village. What they had to do now was simple."<p>

The three ninja dropped from the tree to see a large group of ninja waiting for orders on a large clearing. With many more groups waiting for orders as well, a single command sent them into action.

"Kill any survivors!"

* * *

><p>By the giant tremor and brief moment of silence, the mysterious Akatsuki member knew that Pain had used Almighty Push to destroy the village. Most of the ninja there had been put out of commission but it was very likely that Root was still standing.<p>

Located in a concealed tunnel protected by genjutsu and explosive seals, was a large dark corridor barely lit by torches that led to a large metal door. Two masked ninja were standing guard before it and tensed up when seeing the Akatsuki robes.

No words passed between them, no warning, as they rushed forward to attack.

A pair of blades emerged from the Akatsuki robe's sleeves and their wielders flickered out of view and reappeared behind the Root ninja. They stood there, frozen, before blood gushed out of their torsos and they fell to the ground, dead.

Putting away the weapons for now, the Akatsuki member placed a hand on the door and it was blown off its hinges, revealing a medium-sized room with a lift that only lead down.

True to its name, the Root headquarters were located underground just as their spies had said. Just like Danzo to cower from a safe place while the village he _protected _was brought to its knees.

Moving to stand on the lift, the Akatsuki member produced one of the blades and used it to cut the chains on the lift, instantly sending them both crashing down. The rush of wind ruffled the mysterious member's robes as the lift descended down a dark tunnel before it suddenly became lit and a very large open-space was revealed. It was a natural cave located well below Konoha, that rivaled the size of the village. However, most of it was unused, and the Root ninja were focused into a single tall building that stood at the center of the cave.

Several Root ninja were alarmed by the falling lift and the Akatsuki member knew that it was time to attack.

Jumping off the lift and thrusting both hands forward, a harsh wind blew the lift off its set path and sent it flying towards a group of Root ninja. Some managed to avoid it but others were crushed under the large metal lift. While the other ninja scrambled to counterattack, the Akatsuki member swiped both hands forward and created a rain of hundreds of kunai.

Now most Root ninja outside of the building were either dead or badly hurt, while the ones that remained fit for battle unleashed a barrage of long-range jutsu. Though most were the typical fire, water, or earth jutsu, others were more recognizable, such as the Aburame insect jutsu.

However, the Akatsuki member was well-prepared, and counter the attacks by blowing a massive cloud of flames at the attacks, consuming them, before they came down on the ninja. As some were consumed by the fire, the ones that managed to avoid the attack, were cut by another wave of kunai that rained down on them.

The Akatsuki member landed on the rocky ground and calmly walked into the large building.

Surprisingly, there were no waves of Root ninja waiting inside, instead there was a mostly empty large room with Danzo sitting behind a large desk.

"I never imagined that the Akatsuki would know about this base," Danzo said as he got up and walked around the desk. "You are after the jinchuuriki, correct? Tell me, why have you come here."

"Revenge."

The Akatsuki member took off the straw hat to glare at the old man, whose visible eye widened in surprise.

"I see. So you're still alive."

**Ch.36 End**


	37. The Mysterious Member

**So, this chapter was like half done a couple of days ago but then my computer freaked out and I lost everything since I didn't save... Thankfully I was able to write through it. Hope you like it. If you have any questions then leave a review and I'll answer next chapter.**

**Naruto: Making of a Hokage**

_**True Pain Arc**_

**Ch.37 The Mysterious Member**

"I see. So you're still alive."

A silence passed through the room.

This wasn't the first time that they had met. It had been years since the last time they last saw each other face to face.

Back then...

* * *

><p><em><strong>Years Ago<strong>_

Minato Namikaze, the Fourth Hokage of the Hidden Leaf Village, studied the three elders he had called to his office. Sworn to secrecy over the delicate issue, none of them were willing to negotiate with the Uchiha Clan. It was no secret that the clan had problems with the authority of the village, but what the public didn't know was that whispers of a revolt had begun to emerge.

"I will not punish the clan for something that they haven't done," the Fourth said. "We can negotiate with them, I'm sure that they don't want to start a civil war either."

"It is senseless to attempt to reason with them," Homura Mitokado, a former member of the Second Hokage's team, said in a stern voice.

"He's right," Koharu Utatene, also a member of the Second Hokage's team, agreed. "As the authority of the village, it is your job to make sure that everyone is safe."

The Fourth frowned, "That's exactly what I'm trying to do. You can't tell me that starting a fight inside of the village can keep anyone safe."

"There will be a fight either way," Danzo said, "We should attack before they have the chance."

"The reason I brought you three today was so that I could tell you about my plans. None of you will change my decision. Homura, Koharu, you two are dismissed."

Danzo masked his confusion as the two elders left. What could the Hokage want without the others hearing?

"I will be frank with this Danzo," the Fourth started in a very serious manner. "Just as the Third did, I was willing to overlook your secret organization. I understand that it carried out many missions that were best left secret for the good of the village. But after hearing about some of the suspicious things you have done in the last few years, I have decided to put a stop to Root."

The elder fought hard to keep his anger in check.

"That is all that I wanted to say to you today. You may leave."

Hearing the command on his words, Danzo swallowed his rage and left the room.

Once he heard the door close, Minato slumped down on his chair and sighed.

"Work getting to you?" Came a sudden voice.

The Fourth smiled wearily and turned to look out his window, "You have no idea Jiraiya-sensei."

"I had a feeling that's the kind of things a Hokage has to worry about," the Toad Sage said, entering the room and moving to sit on one of the chairs in front of Minato's desk. "That's why I did the smart thing and refused the job all those years ago."

"You've always been wise," Minato humored him with an appreciative smile. His teacher had a way of lightening the mood wherever he was.

"So tell me, why did you challenge Danzo so openly?"

"It's a way for me to make sure that he doesn't try anything," he responded. "With the relations with the Uchiha Clan going south, the last thing I need is for Danzo to try something on his own. While he lays low, I might _hopefully _manage to fix things."

Jiraiya nodded, eyes closed and a smile on his face. Despite his calm demeanor, his former student was always positive, no matter the cause. Even on the missions they had together during the war, he had a certain charisma that made those around him become hopeful. Now as Hokage, that same charisma seemed to expand the whole village.

He briefly wondered what sort of person Minato's child would be. Would he be calm and collected as his father? Or would he be loud and fiery like his mother?

Only time would tell.

"So Minato, nervous about becoming a father?"

The change in conversation brought a bright smile to Minato's face.

"I am, so much that I sometimes can't sleep. But at the same time," his eyes seemed to shine in happiness as he looked at his teacher. And, with a bright smile on his face, said, "I can't wait to meet him!"

* * *

><p>Kushina Uzumaki tried not to let the nervousness show on her face as she was led out of the village by Biwako Sarutobi, the wife of the Third Hokage.<p>

On their way out to a safe place with a barrier to deliver the baby, the old woman was quite blunt and not shy of showing her annoyance every time Kushina complained.

"This delivery is considered classified. Please try not to scream if contractions start."

"Of course I won-AAAAHHHH!"

* * *

><p>"Lord Hokage keep the seal in place!" Scolded Biwako as a screaming Kushina lay in bed a sweaty mess.<p>

"R-Right," he stammered before wincing when Kushina let out a bloodcurdling scream. "She's really in pain! Is it supposed to be this way!? Maybe something is going wrong!"

"Good grief, you're the Fourth Hokage! Don't panic! This is the reason why women have babies, you men can't handle pain!"

"But she's-"

Minato tried to argue but stopped when he felt a powerful chakra from the seal on Kushina's stomach. The fox was trying to break out at all costs, clearly it knew as well as they did that a female jinchuuriki's seal was the most vulnerable during birth.

That's right, he couldn't panic. Neither he or Kushina were done.

Kushina screamed loudly with tears rolling down the side of her face.

"The head's out! We're almost done Kushina!" Biwako said.

"Keep going. You can do this," the medic helping deliver the baby said.

Once again, the powerful chakra pushed against the seal, causing Minato to struggle to keep the fox from breaking out.

"Hurry Naruto, come out! You stay inside Nine-Tails!"

Minato closed his eyes as Kushina let out one final scream, before it was joined by the sound of crying.

Time seemed to stop for Minato. As soon as he heard the baby crying, he opened his eyes and looked at the tiny baby, crying on Biwako's arms, in awe.

"Congratulations. It's a healthy baby boy," Biwako said with a gentle smile.

Minato laughed, which sounded more like a whimper, and tears rolled down his face.

"Haha. I'm a father."

"Naruto..." Kushina said weakly when the baby was placed next to her. "I finally get to meet you..."

"Okay Kushina," Minato said while the baby was taken away. "I promise that you'll get to rest after this but we're not done yet. We have to get the Nine-Tails completely sealed."

Kushina panted but managed to nod, "Right..."

All of a sudden, twin startled screams were heard, before two bodies dropped on the floor.

"Biwako! Taji!"

Standing over the two dead bodies, was a cloaked ninja wearing a strange mask. On his arms, was the newborn baby.

"Fourth Hokage, Minato Namikaze. Back away from the jinchuuriki," he moved a hand to the baby's face as a threat, "Or else your son dies at the tender age of one minute."

_'Who the hell is this guy? For him to get past the barrier...he's no ordinary ninja.' _Minato thought to himself with a frown.

"I believe I told you to back away. Do you not care for your newborn son?"

Minato raised his hands, "Hold it! Just calm down!"

"You should take your own advice Lord Hokage. Unlike you, I'm perfectly calm."

With that the man tossed the baby in the air and took a kunai on his left hand.

"Naruto!" Kushina cried out as the man thrust the kunai forward with every intention to kill her son.

Faster than the eye could blink, Minato flickered out of view and reappeared behind the man with Naruto safely on his arms.

"You live up to the name of 'Yellow Flash' but what will you do now?"

Minato looked down at his son when he heard the sound of a burning paper tag and looked down in horror to see the blanket wrapped around his son covered with explosive tags. Minato wasted no time and quickly pulled the blanket away from his son before the tags exploded.

The Fourth appeared outside of the smoking building with Naruto in his arms.

"Thank goodness... You're not hurt."

That strange man was after Kushina, there was no doubt about that. But he couldn't go after them just yet, first he had to make sure that their son was completely safe.

With that in mind, he disappeared in a yellow flash.

* * *

><p>All in the village were horrified.<p>

After hearing a terrifying loud roar, the massive form of the Nine-Tails could be spotted by many in the distance. With its size, it was hard not to see it.

For someone like the masked man, this was just what he was waiting for.

Standing before the giant bijuu, he was genuinely surprised when he noticed the weak jinchuuriki crawling towards him.

"S-Stop this..."

"How versatile," the masked man praised. "I see it is not a myth that the Uzumaki are something special. Even ripping out your Tailed Beast didn't kill you."

The Kyuubi roared as it raised its right arm.

"It's only fitting for the beast to kill its former jinchuuriki."

As the Nine-Tails brought its hand down to crush the ground, a flicker of light shone in the darkness and Minato appeared just in time to take his wife in his arms and jump away from the attack.

"Minato... Naruto...is he..." Ignoring everything else, Kushina could only ask the one thing that mattered to her at the moment, "Is Naruto okay?"

"Yes," he answered with a gentle smile on his face. "He's fine. I hid him somewhere safe."

Despite the situation. Despite her body being in shock. Despite her being incredibly exhausted to.

She smiled.

"Thank goodness..." She managed before blacking out.

Minato's smile disappeared when he turned to look at the masked man with a hateful glare before disappearing once again.

This time he reappeared on a small room where the baby Naruto slept on a bed.

"...why?"

Kushina had seemed to regain consciousness for the moment.

"Don't worry about why. Just stay with Naruto."

He helped her move to the bed to lay next to their son.

Kushina whimpered as she held the baby to her face, "Naruto."

Minato somberly watched the scene before his fists clinched to the point of drawing blood, and he stood up abruptly to gather his things.

Donning his white cloak, he gave one last look to his unconscious wife and sleeping baby.

"I'll be back before you know it."

* * *

><p>When the Kyuubi suddenly vanished the villagers thought that things had somehow worked out, but their relief was short-lived as the massive demon suddenly appeared in the middle of the village, crushing anything or anyone that was near it.<p>

The Nine-Tails turned its head to the Hokage Monument, where a glaring Fourth Hokage stood.

"So you noticed me already, huh?"

Bright yellow chakra gathered on its open wide-open mouth to create a massive ball of energy, but the Fourth did not flinch.

He simply got one of his special kunai, ran through dozens of hand signs at an incredible speed and held it out in front of him.

The Kyuubi let loose a massive blast of chakra that would surely obliterate anything on its path but a black portal opened up in front of the Hokage and took the attack before disappearing, preventing disaster. Seconds later, an incredibly loud blast could be heard but too far from the village to cause any damage.

Minato knew that he had to tell the Third what was happening but he suddenly swiped backwards with a kunai on hand, that was caught by the masked ninja that had appeared behind him.

"We're done."

The space around him seemed to pull towards the man's eye, but Minato quickly teleported to one of the special kunai he had around the village. This particular one took him to the building where Kushina had given birth just minutes ago.

"I won't let you escape."

Space swirling in front of him, the masked man appeared before Minato once again.

_'He uses space-time techniques too. It must be how he moved so far after taking Kushina. There were ANBU guarding us before. He must have killed them. He also knew that the seal would be weak while Kushina was giving birth, he could even summon the Kyuubi in the middle of the village.'_

There was only one person that could do all of that.

"Are you Madara Uchiha?"

The masked man chuckled.

"No. You couldn't be. He's long dead."

"I don't know about that," the man responded, "But that is of no importance now. I plan to star a war. One that will bring an end to conflict. One that will bring true peace."

Minato glared, "You're right about one thing. In the end none of this will matter. Because I will stop you right here and now!"

* * *

><p>After Minato was done with his fight against the strange masked man, he reappeared outside of the village along with the Kyuubi, his wife, and his newborn son.<p>

"We have to hold it in place..." he said while panting.

"My chakra's almost completely drained but..." Kushina began before chains made of chakra emerged from her back and wrapped all around the Kyuubi's body.

Naruto began to cry, while a concerned Minato called her name.

"Sorry Naruto...I didn't mean to wake you."

"Kushina..."

"I'll drag the Nine-Tails back...and die with it inside me. That way it won't come back...at least for a while. It's the only way to save you both... I love you two so much..."

She smiled as blood flowed streamed down the sides of her mouth, "Thank you...for everything."

"Kushina..." Minato looked down while shaking slightly, "There's...no need for you to do that. There is another way to stop the Kyuubi."

Kushina looked at him in confusion.

Minato wiped away a few tears from his face and looked at his wife in determination.

"I can lead the Nine-Tails away with a weal only someone like me can use, the Dead Summon Seal."

"But that..!" Kushina exclaimed in surprise, "The user will die!"

"I'll only be able to seal half of the Kyuubi's power," he continued, ignoring his wife. "I can't let the Nine-Tails be revived without a jinchuuriki, there's no telling how much destruction that would bring. But with the Dead Demon Seal I can permanently seal half of the fox's power. As for the remaining half..."

"I'll seal the other half inside Naruto with the Eight Trigrams Seal."

Kushina gasped in shock, horror on her face.

"I know what you're going to say but there's no helping it. That masked man, the one who attacked you. He will bring disaster to the world," he said, voice not wavering. "Naruto will be the one to stop him. He'll do what we couldn't .I just know it."

"But Minato..."

"Have a little faith," he smiled as he ran through various hand seals until he finally stopped and the ghostly figure of the death god appeared behind him, already holding part of his soul. "He's out son after all."

* * *

><p>From the shadows of the forest, having come after seeing the Kyuubi appear, Danzo watched the scene before him with his visible eye showing a glint of pleasure.<p>

A new jinchuuriki.

A baby at that.

Far too easy to turn into the perfect weapon.

The temptation of taking the child with him was far too great but he couldn't let himself be hasty. There would be more opportunities in the future, he was sure of it. However, this other opportunity was something only a fool would let go by.

Kushina Uzumaki. A woman with special chakra, and also the former jinchuuriki of the Kyuubi. In her current state, breaking her was far too easy. Who knew what he would find in her mind? What countless jutsu and secret information he could gather.

With that in mind, his undid the wraps covering part of his face and a sharingan glowed in the darkness.

* * *

><p>Kushina could barely hold on to life but she somehow managed to pull herself to Naruto's side.<p>

He was quiet now, smiling even.

"What a pathetic scene."

"Eh?" She slowly raised her head and froze when seeing Danzo walking over to her.

"The Fourth Hokage, so adamant is going against me, ended up dying like a rat. How fitting," he chuckled to himself before kneeling down and grabbing the baby by an arm, causing him to wail uncontrollably.

"Naruto!"

The elder smirked before driving a hand through the baby's torso.

Blood splattered everywhere as the baby's cries stopped.

"N-Na..." Kushina's eyes were wide in horror, words refused to escape from her mouth, before she released an anguished cry of pain.

_'Now,' _Danzo smirked, preparing to hypnotize her so that she could give him precious information, but was forced to stop when his trained ears heard the sounds of incoming ninja.

"Dammit." He cursed. There was no way he could stop now. Now that the woman was a broken mess, with nothing to live for, he mind was incredibly easy to manipulate.

He decided to leave it up to fate.

A river going down to a deserted wooded area was in the vicinity. Perfect.

Danzo took the weeping mess that was Kushina by the arm and flung her across the area until she landed on the river and was gone with the current.

"Let's hope you manage to live until I can come retrieve you," he muttered to himself. Next he snapped his fingers, causing two Root ninja to emerge from the shadows, "Erase all traces of my being here. Do so quickly."

"Understood!"

* * *

><p>A wanderer, visiting a shrine belonging to the Uzumaki, on the outskirts of the Leaf Village, had seen the disaster that struck the village moments before. However, the massive form of a Tailed Beast had disappeared and, though he could only feel tremors and hear the loud roars, everything had gone quiet.<p>

Just when he was prepared to leave, he noticed something on a nearby river. A woman that appeared to be barely clinging to life, was caught by a log on the water.

The old wanderer quickly moved to the river and pulled out the woman, to notice the terrible shape she was in.

A gaping wound in her stomach.

Scratches all over her body.

Most concerning was her large belly that suggested pregnancy.

Taking that into consideration, he reaches into the many scrolls on his back and put them all down. With the years it had taken him to make each of the seals, it was easy for him to tell them apart, so it was quite simple for him to quickly apply two of his special seals infused with healing chakra to the woman.

He placed one on her chest and another on her stomach.

The green chakra covered covered the hole on the woman's stomach but it suddenly stopped.

"Hmm? Why are you rejecting it?" The old wanderer muttered to himself in surprise and then noticed something. It was small and sudden, far too sudden for someone other than him to notice, but he managed to see a tiny trace of red chakra flicker on one of his seals for just one moment.

"A jinchuuriki..." he muttered with a sad look on his face.

He then reached for another of his seals, this one having very complex writing on it, and placed it on her stomach.

Purple chakra emerged from the seal and covered the woman's stomach, before the light chakra flickered again, however, this time it merged with the seal and covered the woman's body.

Soon, he could see the wound began to close, as did most of her other wounds.

This was one of his most special seals. Made in case of a run in with a Tailed Beast or one of the poor ninja that had been made jinchuuriki.

Using the many seals, this purple chakra had the ability to merge and duplicate demonic chakra. If what he noticed was right, with the massive fox he had seen moments earlier, then this woman had had her Tailed Beast ripped out of her. It was nothing short of a miracle for him to have run into her.

His seal, able to duplicate demonic chakra and keep it steady for months, would be a sure way for this person's body to slowly get used to the sudden absence of the Tailed Beast, and live on.

A miracle indeed.

* * *

><p>Kushina watched the grassy plains that seemed to extended forever with a blank look.<p>

After parting ways with the old man that had saved her, Ayumu.

She had no idea what to do.

The first thing on her mind was to escape as soon as possible. When Ayumu had told her that she had been asleep for a whole day, she had been quick to tell him to escape since Danzo would most likely come after her.

But with that initial call to action over, she was left feeling completely hollow.

Minato, the love of her life had been killed.

Naruto, the baby she had carried for months, had been killed.

Why?

Why had she lived on?

There was nothing she wanted more than to stop suffering. Every breath she took was a constant reminded of what she didn't have. Minato...Naruto... She would never see them again. They were gone. The family they were about to start, had been nothing but a dream. A beautiful dream that had ended.

That had been taken away.

She promised...

She promised that she would kill Danzo. That she would kill the masked man. There would be no rest until she did, and after she was finally killed them, she would join them in the afterlife.

"I have to be strong," she told herself. "I miss them so much...but, I have to avenge them. I must."

Minato had put all of his trust into Naruto but now that he was gone, she would take on that roll herself. No matter what it took.

* * *

><p><em><strong>Present Day<strong>_

"Uzumaki Kushina..." Danzo said in a serious voice.

"I have been waiting for this moment for years," she said with a hateful glare. "I'm going to kill you!"

**Ch.37 End**


	38. The Invasion Begins

**Naruto: Making of a Hokage**

_**True Pain Arc**_

**Ch.38 The Invasion Begins**

With a flick of her right wrist, a single kunai was multiplied into hundreds that were launched in the direction of Danzo who easily countered by exhaling a powerful wind from his mouth that halted the kunai's momentum and caused them to drop on the floor.

Judging by the control and power of the simple wind jutsu, Kushina could guess that the old man was dangerously proficient with wind chakra. In any case, she had an easy way to counter any wind jutsu thrown her way. No amount of control and mastery of an element could cause it to resist a chakra nature with an advantage.

"Fire Style: Raging Flames!"

Releasing a powerful wave of fire from her lips, Danzo was forced to jump out of the way, however, Kushina changed the direction of her attack by turning her head. The elder narrowed his visible eye and thrusted both hands forward, creating a wave of wind that clashed with the fire and exploded.

Danzo was hurled through the air by the shock wave of the explosion, but used a wind jutsu to regain his balance and land safely on the floor. However, upon doing so, two chakra chains broke out of the ground and shot towards him. Without the ability to dodge in time, he brought his right arm forward and a large wall of wood came out of the ground, stopping the chains on their tracks.

Kushina dropped the jutsu and was more than confused. As far as she knew, only the First Hokage could use that type of jutsu. Why did Danzo have it?

Her question was answered when she noticed the way his right arm looked now that it was out of the bandages usually covering it. It didn't even look like his skin, it was as if he cut off his own arm to put that monstrosity in. Not only was it an incredibly strange color, but it also had ten sharingan looking at her.

"Did you know?" Danzo began while undoing the bandages on his face, to show yet another sharingan. "The Fourth Hokage tried to stop the Uchiha from revolting years ago. Of course, he died before he could make a difference, but I find it amusing that I ended up gathering the spoils of the massacre he tried so hard to avoid."

Kushina clenched her fists until they turned white and then ran through hand signs at a fast speed.

"Fire Dragon Jutsu!"

By blowing a wave of fire out of her lips, a massive fire dragon was created and charged in at the elder who did nothing to dodge. Despite her confusion, she felt relieved when the dragon engulfed the old man until nothing remained.

"Amusing."

Eyes widened, she turned on her heels to see Danzo standing a good teen feet away from her.

"I assume that you are confused. Very well, I'll end your hopes of killing me now."

A kunai pierced through the air until it went through his head, but instead of dropping to the floor dead, he disappeared and appeared next to where his body should have been.

"There is no way for me to die." He explained, "Izanagi. A technique forbidden even by the Uchiha. With it, no matter how many times you _kill _me, I will not die."

Kushina took in the information but instead of showing anger like Danzo thought, she smirked instead.

"Am I supposed to feel helpless now? The way I see it," she began as a deep hatred burned in her eyes, "This means I can kill you a hundred times over!"

Danzo narrowed his eyes before they widened in shock when he reappeared behind Kushina once again.

_'What!? How did she _kill _me that time!?'_

"Prepare yourself Danzo," Kushina said while glaring at the old man, "I plan to make you suffer."

* * *

><p>Naruto stood on his fighting stance, eyes narrowed, and mouth in a thin line.<p>

Much to his concern, Pain remained still without any concern in his rippled blank eyes. Was he waiting to study his movements? Or maybe, he was stalling for some reason?

He didn't know but he couldn't be hasty against this enemy, the leader of the Akatsuki more than warranted him to be careful. One wrong move and he could end up seriously hurt. For now he needed to gather his thoughts before attacking and it looked like Pain had no problems with waiting.

For starters, it looked like his earlier assumptions were wrong. His strange attack did not obliterate the things it came in contact with, it simply violently pushed them aside. In any case, such a strong attack _had _to be a drawback.

_'I see,' _Naruto thought with a frown, _'He must need to rest before using that powerful jutsu again. If that's the case then it would explain his stalling.' _

Realizing that he should attack before his assumptions were proven correct, Naruto jumped high in the air and ran through hand signs.

"Sage Arts: Twin Dragon Jutsu!"

Two massive wind dragons formed in the sky and came down on their target, who watched them with the same unchanging stoic expression before jumping to his right side to avoid one of the dragons, however, it changed directions before it could crash on the ground and shot towards the enemy at a fast speed, while the other dragon moved towards Pain from the opposite side.

Pain narrowed his eyes and stopped running, waiting for the right moment until he finally jumped high in the air just as the two dragons ran into each other. What he didn't expect was for the two dragons to merge together and form a much bigger dragon that closed in on him. With apparently no way to dodge the attack in the air, Pain surprised Naruto, by flying to his right and dodging the attack safely.

Naruto cursed as the wind dragon continue to go high in the sky before finally dispersing with a violent wind that was so strong that it pushed the rain clouds away and revealed the blue sky. While Pain landed safely on the ground, the blond cursed under his breath. While using two dragons made it possible for him to control their trajectory, once they merged into a large powerful one, it was impossible to control it.

In any case, with the element of surprise in his jutsu gone, he couldn't count on the same strategy.

Meanwhile Pain slapped his hands together and closed his eyes. Naruto tensed up before the ground under his feet began to tremble. With his eyes wide in surprise, Naruto quickly jumped aside just as a massive spike of earth emerged before he was struck on the back by something.

"Dammit!" He cried out as he was launched towards the ground but managed to land on his hands and used them to push himself off and flip himself to a standing position before he could be blindsided by another attack.

Upon checking who had hit him, he noticed that another member of the Akatsuki had arrived. Interestingly, he saw a high resemblance between the two. Black rods, orange hair, the only things that was different was that this new member's hair was much longer.

Before he could take time to wonder why they were so similar, the man slammed both hands on the ground and a massive rhinoceros with black rods on its body appeared with a large cloud of smoke. It pawed the ground with its front hoof, and then charged at him while causing massive tremors.

This time it was Pain's turn to be surprised, as Naruto planted his feet on the ground and stopped the massive summon with both hands. His feet did not even move from the spot as the summon was brought to a screeching halt before the blond then flipped it over his shoulder and slammed it on the ground, causing it to roar in pain before disappearing.

"Tell me," Pain began, his other body moving to stand behind him, "Does that strange form give you enhanced strength."

Naruto grinned in response. "I guess that means that you couldn't defeat Jiraiya-sensei."

"What makes you say that?"

"He's not the type to go out until he has exhausted every single possibility. That means that if he had fought you to the death then he would have shown enhanced strength at some point. That's good," Naruto declared with a smile, "This means that I can stop worrying about him."

Pain remained stoic as one more strange Akatsuki member joined him.

"You should not worry about others, when it is you that is in the most danger."

* * *

><p>An apartment complex, near the West Gate of Konoha, had been reduced to rubble like most of the village. Amidst a layer of broken pieces of wood, emerged Tayuya with a layer of dust on her clothes. With a cough, she got on her feet and looked towards the area in which harsh winds were coming from.<p>

They weren't natural.

Whatever, or whoever, had brought the village down, was in the middle of a battle. She couldn't imagine anyone standing up to such strength, so her instincts told her to get the hell out of the village before another one of those attacks hit.

"T-Tayuya..."

Turning her head, she noticed a small girl she had grown familiar with emerge from the rubble while coughing violently.

"...what's going on?"

"I don't know," she answered honestly. "But we're not safe here. You should go find your teammates."

The black-haired girl shook her head, her small ponytail swinging from side to side, and put up her fists, "I won't leave you alone Miss Tayuya."

"I told you not to call me that, Mio." Tayuya answered in annoyance.

Mio was a thirteen-year-old Genin that she had met a couple of days ago. The girl would spy on her training and it wasn't until they met face to face, that the girl showed some sort of admiration for her. When asked why, the Genin responded that she had seen her with the hero of the village, Naruto, and that she must be just as strong.

After that, the girl would not stop following her when she wasn't on missions. Some might find it cute, like her stupid old neighbor that loved to stick her nose into people's business, but she found it incredibly annoying.

Even so, it wasn't like she wanted Mio to get hurt or anything.

"Come on. Let's go find some place safe," the former Sound ninja said while dusting her shirt.

"Eh? But what if it's worse outside of the village?"

Tayuya shook her head and pointed toward the middle of the village. "There's a big fight going on there. Whoever did this to the village must be fighting someone right now."

"Oh! I bet it's Mr. Naruto!"

"As if," she scoffed, "Naruto's strong but there's no way he could stand up to someone that could level a village. If anything, the person responsible must be fighting dozens of ninja."

Mio pouted, as if she didn't agree, but didn't say anything.

"Come on, we should at least get away from here."

When she said that, Tayuya took a step forward but stopped with a look of shock when spotting a wave of ninja running in the distance, all in a line and with matching Sound headbands.

Tayuya grabbed Mio by the wrist and ran, much to the girl's confusion.

* * *

><p>Ino's hands glowed green as she did her best to heal Kakashi's broken leg. Her sensei, Asuma, stood at their side just in case he needed to protect them from something.<p>

"So Naruto's fighting, huh?" Kakashi said with a worried glint in his eye, "If that's the case then we have to hurry to him. If he's captured then that would mean..."

"He won't be," Ino assured, "We may have been together for some time now but I know that he hasn't shown all of his strength yet."

Asuma chuckled, "She's right Kakashi. Besides, it's not like Naruto could lose so easily, even against the Akatsuki."

Kakashi smiled underneath his mask before his eye suddenly widened in surprise, "Asuma behind you!"

The Jonin quickly turned around while reaching for his signature blades just in time to block a couple of kunai that had been thrown his way.

"Show yourselves!"

At his words, a couple of Sound ninja jumped over a nearby ruined building and landed in front of the group.

"Sound ninja? What are you doing here?"

"We came to destroy this shitty village, but it looks like someone beat us to it," one of the ninja said, a young man, no younger than twenty, with a purple mohawk and ANBU attire.

"But now we'll settle for killing your sorry asses," a ninja, this one around thirty, joined in. With a shaved head and a large build, he looked more than ready to fight. Like the others, he was also dressed in ANBU attire.

Asuma chuckled confidently, "Then you're going to need more if you want to kill us."

"Funny you should say that."

At those words, a dozen more Sound ninja appeared from nearby ruined buildings. Asuma and Kakashi hated to admit it, but they appeared competent.

"You had to say something didn't you sensei?" Ino scolded.

"Sorry about that," he grinned, "But don't worry. I'm more than enough to handle this many."

The ninja with the shaved head laughed, "We'll see about that. Attack!"

One of the ninja shot forward with a speed that took Asuma by surprise but just as he was closing in, a new figure appeared, delivering a kick to the Sound ninja's side.

"Dynamic Entry!"

Kakashi cocked his head to the side when seeing the green-clad ninja arrive with a bright smile on his face.

"I hate to admit it but it's good to see you Gai."

* * *

><p>Three more Akatsuki members with black rods embedded into their bodies had arrived shortly after he took care of the massive rhinoceros summon, and by this point Naruto knew that it was more than a coincidence. There had to be something linking all of them together, their black rods and rippled eyes told him that.<p>

But what? What was he missing?

Naruto had no more time to think as one of the newly arrived ninja, a bald man with a very thick neck, no ears, and a large jaw, ran towards him. He took note of the hardly impressive speed but when he raised an arm to block an incoming kick aimed at his side, he was taken by surprise when the impact caused a loud impact noise followed by a powerful shockwave.

_'This guy is not human!'_

Instead of following up with another attack, the ninja suddenly propelled himself backward by some strange mechanisms on his feet, and then pointed his closed fists at him. Naruto narrowed his eyes at that before they widened in surprise when the hands came off the strange ninja and shot towards him at a high speed.

Naruto sidestepped one of the hands before knocking the other away with a well-placed backhand. Now believing that his opponent was left defenseless, he charged in at him but the strange ninja produced several small missiles from his arms. With no other way to protect himself, Naruto skidded to a halt and stomped his right foot on the ground, hard, causing the ground under the strange ninja's feet to give out and make him lose his balance.

With the projectiles harmlessly shooting in different directions, Naruto was quick to create a clone, grab it by the arm, and fling him at the enemy while the clone charged a Giant Rasengan. Thankfully this time there were no more tricks and the clone successfully blew the strange ninja to pieces.

_'Okay, that's one down,' _he told himself as the clone disappeared with a burst of smoke.

The other members of the Akatsuki remained at the side of Pain, unmoving, and with the same stoic expressions.

_'Could they also be like this last one? Fake bodies... They've done it before, using corpses, so he must be doing something similar. Which means...'_

"You're all Pain."

"Yes," Pain answered without emotion, "But now you will be captured Nine-Tails."

"We'll see about that," Naruto declared as he quickly ran through hand signs. "Sage Arts: Air Bullets!"

Letting loose a barrage of dozens of powerful bullets that tore through the air, Pain simply raised his right hand.

"Almighty Push."

Naruto watched helplessly as his attacks were negated by a powerful barrier.

"He can use it again..."

Feeling a bit dismayed at how powerful the attack seemed, Naruto quickly shook it off and created a clone. With its help, he quickly molded a screeching ball of energy that expanded with wind energy.

"I'll just take them all out at once. Rasenshuriken!"

Throwing the disc-shaped projectile at the gathered bodies, all were quick to dodge with the exception of two, one of which grabbed a large body and threw him aside before being torn to shreds by the powerful attack.

_'Two down.'_

Not wasting any time, the clone charged in towards one of the bodies but it quickly flipped in the air and extended his hands. With a massive cloud of smoke, a giant multi-headed dog appeared and crushed the clone under its giant paw.

As Naruto prepared to attack once again by running through hand signs, he noticed that two of the remaining bodies moved to cover the third and final one. Frowning, he continued on his attack.

"Sage Arts: Devastation!"

Causing a powerful whirlwind with hundreds of wind blades, it easily cut through the massive summon until it finally gave out and disappeared in a cloud of smoke. Not wasting any time, Naruto created a Giant Rasengan on his right hand and ran towards the body the other two were guarding. However, the protected body managed to summon something and as he stretched out his body, the newly arrived Pain body absorbed his attack.

"What!?" Naruto let out in surprise before he was pulled backwards by an invisible force. Next he was caught by the first Pain body he had met and it slammed him on the ground before producing a large black rod from his robes.

Seeing through Pain's intention of stabbing him with hit, Naruto produced a powerful wind jutsu by blowing air from his lips, and the force was enough to push him away just as the rod came down on him. Thankfully he was able to dodge, and land safely a couple of feet away.

"Impressive. You are much more skilled than I first thought." Pain said. "However, it will only serve to delay the inevitable."

Naruto clenched his fists, wondering what he should do now.

With two down, and a newly arrived body, there were now four of Pain's body that he had to deal with. One of them was sacrificed so he was sure that it wasn't of much help in the fight, and this new one had actually absorbed his Giant Rasengan without being hurt. But with this, came a realization.

He now noticed that every body had certain abilities that only they could do.

The first Pain he met, the one with spiky orange hair, was the only one that could use the force field, and the strange technique that had pulled him towards him.

The body with long orange hair had the ability to summon things.

This new body had the ability to absorb chakra, while he had no idea what the fourth one could do.

Out of the four he figured that he should get rid of the one with the ability to absorb chakra first. The only problem would be the others interfering but he had a plan for them.

A confident smile spread across Naruto's smile as he prepared for his next attack.

* * *

><p>"There. That should do it." Ino said while putting her hands away from Kakashi's leg.<p>

"Thanks," he nodded and got up, putting weigh on his leg carefully and finding that the pain had gone down to just a bit of soreness. "Gai. Asuma. Can you handle things here?"

The two ninja were in the midst of fighting the horde of Sound ninja. Gai using mostly taijutsu to go through them and hold them in place while Asuma used a mix of taijutsu and ninjutsu.

"Sure," Asuma responded.

"Of course we can my rival." Gai said with a thumbs up, "Leave them to us."

"You're getting ahead of yourselves," interrupted the Sound ninja with the mohawk.

All of the downed ninja got back on their feet slowly, as if they were being pulled up by sheer willpower alone.

"We haven't begun to show our true power," he declared as black marks began to spread across his face. Similar marks appeared on all the other Sound ninja until it fully covered their bodies and purple chakra exploded around them.

"What is that?"

"It's the Cursed Seal," Ino replied when hearing Gai's question. "Back when I went on a mission to a Sound base, some of the ninja there could use it. It makes them several times stronger than they already are."

"This could be bad..." Asuma muttered to himself.

Kakashi clenched his fists, "Asuma, Gai, and I will take care of the Sound ninja here. Ino, you go help Naruto."

"But-!"

"Listen to him Ino," a new voice said and Ino instantly felt relieved when hearing it.

Before the group of ninja landed Inoichi Yamanaka accompanied by Shikaku Nara and Choza Akimichi.

"Go help Naruto, we'll take care of things here," Inoichi assured with a smile.

Feeling a lot more relieved with them protecting the village, Ino nodded and ran off to the battle taking place in the massive crater in the middle of the village.

"Not like you to have your daughter run to the arms of Naruto," Kakashi teased, earning a heated glare.

Choza laughed at the jab, "It's probably killing him inside."

"Alright shut up. I'll help you take care of Sound first, but you two are next."

* * *

><p>Ino ran through the ruins of the village with a worried frown.<p>

There were still tremors coming from where Naruto was. It was relieving to know that the battle was still going on but there was no telling what side had the advantage. That's why she had to do everything in her power to tip the scales as much as she could.

"Ino!"

"Hold on!"

Hearing the calls for attention, she turned her head to see Shikamaru and Choji moving to meet up with her.

"Guys! What are you doing here!?"

"Are you kidding? It was hard to miss that massive battle going on," Shikamaru stated, referring to the place where Naruto was.

"We figured that we would help whoever is fighting," Choji finished.

Ino smiled, "Then let's keep moving!"

In the battle for the fate of Konoha, the two generations of Ino-Shika-Cho fought for the good of their home.

Akatsuki or Sound, they weren't about to lose.

* * *

><p>Naruto unsheathed the katana on his back. Blue chakra ran through it as several seals on it lit up and the blade was covered in buzzing wind chakra. It took a lot of skill and concentration but by vibrating the wind at a high speed while keeping it condensed, he was able to make a blade that could cut through anything.<p>

A clone appeared at his side and ran through hand signs.

"Sage Arts: Dragon Jutsu!"

Unlike his Twin Dragon Jutsu, this time three dragons appeared, one of wind, another of water, and the last one of earth. The three dragons rose high in the air before moving coming down on three different targets.

With Pain only being able to block two, one of his bodies would be sacrificed like last time. At that time, he would use the confusion to close in on the chakra absorbing body and use his blade to cut through it.

Naruto's plan went into motion, however, something he didn't count on happened.

"Almighty Push!"

Instead of a small force field, this one took up most of the area and dispersed the three dragons and the clone, before sending Naruto flying back. But before he could get far, a large tongue wrapped around his body and pulled him towards a giant snake-tailed chameleon summon that stood before Pain's bodies.

"Too hasty." Pain said before stabbing Naruto on the stomach with one of the rods.

Shock ran through his face as his whole body went numb and the chameleon dropped him on the ground.

"W-What..?"

Pain said nothing as he stabbed the blond on each hand with the same rods that kept him from moving.

"Do not attempt to use chakra, it is futile."

Just as he said, there was no way for him to do anything. It was as though he had no chakra.

"Naruto!"

Horrified blue eyes noticed Ino, Shikamaru, and Choji running towards him.

"More ants have appeared." Pain said in the same stoic manner. "It is time that I squash you."

**Ch.38 End**


	39. Hatred

**Naruto: Making of a Hokage**

_**True Pain Arc**_

**Ch.39 Hatred**

Shino jumped high in the air to dodge an incoming barrage of fire jutsu that exploded against the spot where he had just been, blowing away and igniting parts of the debris that littered Konoha. Extending both hands, Shino unleashed hundreds of insects at a couple of startled Sound ninja that tried to swat them away but ended up being engulfed by the cloud of chakra eating bugs.

With two out of the many Sound ninja unable to fight, Tenten silently thanked the creepy guy, and sent a couple of kunai with explosive tags flying before swinging a scroll in the direction of the enemy ninja to send dozens of different projectiles their way. Some of the Sound ninja evaded the attack by jumping over the barrage of weapons but others weren't so skilled and were pierced by the weapons.

Only a couple of the large group dropped dead, but others were left injured which was what Tenten had been aiming for.

Hinata and Lee stood side by side, fending off the incoming waves of Sound ninja with their taijutsu skills. True to the common belief that the Hyuuga were almost unbeatable when it came to taijutsu, Hinata easily countered the strikes aimed at her with punishing blows, even hitting some of their chakra points. Lee, a taijutsu, specialist, worked with similar results, blocking and retaliating any blow sent his way.

Shino and Tenten attacking from a distance created a sort of imaginary barrier with their attacks that only skilled ninja could pass. However, those that did were faced with the great close combat skills of Hinata and Lee. It was a simple and effective method to fight but far from perfect. At one point that barrier would waver and all of the ninja would get through.

"We can't keep this up for much longer," Shino said as he landed next to Hinata and Lee.

Tenten was soon to regroup with the three and frowned when seeing that they were still hilariously outnumbered, "There's just no end to them."

As if hearing those words, the Sound ninja that had been beaten began to get up as purple chakra exploded around them, their many wounds closing instantly. Lee was the first to recognize what was happening as more ninja began to expel the vile purple chakra and their bodies convulsed violently until they grew into hulking gray muscular abominations.

"Sheesh. The ninja in this village are a lot stronger than I thought," one of the ninja, a young man with long purple hair, said while swiping away a couple strands of hair from his face. "Not even joking here, I thought we would kill you without using the Curse Seal." He sighed loudly while glancing at the hulking ninja around him, "Then again, these guys aren't exactly the strongest in our forces. But they should at least be more than a match for you in their current state."

The group of Konoha ninja took on defensive stances as one of the hulking ninja ran at them but, seemingly out of nowhere, a large staff slammed the enemy against the ground.

"What!?" The Sound ninja let out in surprise.

Dressed in black fighting attire and holding the large staff on his right hand, was the former Hokage of the village, Hiruzen Sarutobi.

"Orochimaru must have prepared for this attack for years," the Third said, noticing the alarming number of Curse Seal ninja. Only a few years ago it was rare for a ninja to survive being marked by that seal, but it seemed that it wasn't the case anymore. Orochimaru must have figured out a way to give it to a lot more people.

"Come on you four," the former Hokage said to the group of Konoha ninja looking at him in surprsise, "Let's show them our will of fire."

* * *

><p>"My, oh my. It seems that Orochimaru had us fooled." Kabuto commented as he landed on the floor after dodging the swipe of a pointed bone.<p>

Sasuke clicked his tongue in response and threw a couple of lighting-infused shuriken at the old man who chuckled in amusement and dodged with two simple steps.

"Is that it Sasuke. If it is then I have to say that your progress has been disappointing," Orochimaru said with a smirk on his face, "I feel that if you were to fight Naruto right now, you would lose."

Kabuto didn't need to glance at the Uchiha to know he was pissed at that jab.

Sure enough, a large dragon made of lightning formed in the room and launched at the snake summoner. Once again, the attack was dodged at the last minute, however, this time Kabuto was prepared and ran at the opponent with his hands glowing blue. The bones couldn't block his chakra scalpels so the only way for Orochimaru to dodge...

Like he had thought, the old man jumped in the air to avoid the swipes, which Sasuke took advantage of as he sent a massive fire ball to their mutual enemy. Even as the attack hit him dead on, Orochimaru chuckled before his body turned to mud and collapsed.

_'A clone!?' _Sasuke thought in alarm before whirling raising his blade to block an incoming swipe of a pointed bone.

"Your reflexes are quite good Sasuke," Orochimaru praised, "It's a shame that I couldn't move over to your body."

Caught in a lock of blades, Sasuke smirked at the situation as his sharingan stared clearly into the old man's eyes, "Careless. Orochimaru."

When he said that, the snake summoner's vision blurred and then found himself somewhere else entirely. It was a rainy night and he was in the middle of a grassy field. A genjutsu, now that was surprising, last time he checked Sasuke preferred all-out attacks over this subtle art. When he thought about it he guessed that this wasn't that strange. The number of ninja that were defenseless to genjutsu was quite large.

What to do now?

* * *

><p>Kushina faced Danzo with a look of silent anger.<p>

The old man's eyes were wide in disbelief and his face showed quite a bit of shock. It had now been twenty times that she _killed _him, and he had no idea how. His jutsu was supposed to make it so he could counter any lethal attack, but how could he do that when he couldn't see what had killed him?

His world went blank for a full two seconds before he found himself standing somewhere else.

_'Again! She did it again!' _Danzo thought in alarm. With the way things were going there was no way for him to counter, she would simply _kill _him again and he would appear somewhere else. At the moment his trump card was a big disadvantage as he was left with no chance to attack.

Kushina was growing tired of the fight, _killing _him had been amusing at first but now it was making her furious. The person that had killed her baby did not die even though she desperately wanted him to. But before she could let her feelings make her careless, she took notice of the fact that eight of the sharingan on his arm had closed and the ninth was half-closed.

A jutsu like the one Danzo was using was sure to have a limit, and she guessed that the sharingan on his arm was a sort of timer. If that was the case then, as she watched the ninth one close, there were only a few moments until she could finally get her revenge.

Slapping her hands together and running through a dozen hand signs, she aimed at the old man, "Bijuu Jutsu!"

Danzo's eyes widened as a massive figure rock figure emerged from the ground in the shape of a fox. It wasn't anywhere near the size of the real demon fox, but it was still quite an impressive size. Kushina stood on the head of the massive rock figure, chakra chains connecting her to the jutsu.

The elder narrowed his eyes before summoning a gigantic elephantine chimerabut, to his utter shock, the Rock Kyuubi opened its mouth and released raging flames that caused his summon to disappear in a cloud of smoke.

"Impossible. How can it use jutsu?"

While thinking of a way to destroy it he came to a morbid realization when looking down on his arm. All of the sharingan, including his right eye, were closed.

Kushina also seemed to take notice as the Rock Kyuubi used its rock clawed hands to grab him painfully hard.

"Danzo," Kushina said when the old man was raised high enough so that the two of them could meet eyes, "Die."

She dropped down from the Rock Kyuubi as its whole body was pulled in towards the hands grabbing Danzo, crushing his body in the process, before the ball of rock exploded by a fire jutsu.

Kushina stood still, eyes hollow but fierce, as she watched the pieces of rock stained with blood crumble on the ground with no sign of the old man's body. It was done.

Finally. After so many years. She had gotten revenge for her son.

Now she could finally put those feelings of revenge to rest.

She wasn't sure of what to do next, but for now she supposed that she should help Nagato finish what they started.

He was her only family after all.

* * *

><p>Ino, Shikamaru, and Choji stood side by side facing four very similar Akatsuki members that stood in line over Naruto, who was pinned to the ground by black rods.<p>

"Get out of here guys!" Naruto screamed, fear on his features. "He's too strong for you!"

Shikamaru's mouth formed into a thin line when he heard those words. Yes. There was a clear difference in power between them and the enemy but, there was also no way he would leave Naruto to die at the hand of these ninja. More importantly, Ino would not stop bothering them if they were to turn tail and run.

"Don't worry Naruto," Ino said with a smile. "This time we'll protect you."

"That's right!" Choji grinned, "We'll get you out of those rods in no time."

One of the Pain bodies stepped back, as the others covered it.

"All of you shall know pain," the main Pain body said.

The three teammates looked at each other and, with a nod, Choji charged in at the enemies. One of the bodies, the larger of the three guarding the fourth one, ran forward as well.

Using the Expansion Jutsu, Choji punched at Pain with a massive right fist, but the body brought both arms forward to block and was pushed backwards by the force though he did not fall. As it prepared to counter, the body noticed that it could not move anymore and looked down to see a shadow extending to Shikamaru who smirked. At the same time Ino ran through hand signs and extended both hands towards the enemy, attempting to use one of her mind jutsu on him, but was violently rejected and even stumbled backwards in shock.

"You okay?" Shikamaru asked when seeing Ino hold her head in apparent pain. Despite the very obvious discomfort, she managed to nod.

"A Yamanaka," Pain stated. "Your jutsu will not work."

"That just means I have to try something else!" Ino declared as she ran through hand signs but was suddenly pulled towards the main Pain body by an invincible force.

Choji quickly used his expansion jutsu to curl up into a large ball and roll towards the Pain body that dropped Ino and extended his right arm towards the large rolling ninja. A couple of seconds passed as Choji neared the target until he got so close that there was no way that Pain could dodge the attack.

"Almighty Push!"

Just when he was about to make contact, the Akimichi was violently pushed aside by the invisible force before a newly restored Pain body descended from the sky after jumping high in the air, and dove into his stomach with both of it's mechanical legs.

Choji spat out blood when he crashed into the ground and could do nothing as the Pain body's hands dropped to reveal two large holes that were instantly pointed at him.

"Choji!" Shikamaru and Ino screamed before their friend was consumed by a massive blast of chakra that propelled the Pain body in the air before it landed near the other bodies.

Naruto could only watch the scene in horror. From his spot he could see nothing but a bit of hair coming out of a large crater that the attack had left behind.

"C-Cho..."

Shikamaru gritted his teeth together as he ran through hand signs but was forced to dodge as the mechanical body shot towards him with a kick aimed his way. No sooner than the Pain body passed, the largest of them appeared at his side and tried to punch him, but the Nara managed to duck under the blow. Next he tried to use one of his clan's jutsu but was pulled away by an invisible force.

"Shikamaru!" Ino let out in horror as the main Pain body caught him on his outstretched hand and impaled him through the chest with one of the black rods.

Blood poured out of the wound as the lifeless body was dropped on the ground.

"Ino! Get away!" Naruto screamed at the top of his lungs, a petrified look on his face.

"You care about her the most," Pain noticed, "Very well. Now I will show you true pain."

Ino bit her lips and ran through hands signs, "Water Style: Water Dragon Jutsu!"

The large form of a water dragon formed in the area but instead of shooting towards the enemies, Ino jumped on top of it and had it fly towards Naruto. She noticed one of the two largest of the Pain bodies moving towards her but she waited until the very last moment to jump off the dragon and run to Naruto's side.

"I told you to go away! He's going to kill you Ino!" Naruto tried to reason with her again but was powerless to do anything.

Time slowed down.

He watched helplessly as Ino got closer and closer until she finally grabbed one of the rods and tried to pull it out, but was pulled back herself as soon as she made contact.

_His stomach burned._

Pain caught Ino and, without saying anything, slammed her on the ground and pinned her there with his right foot.

_**'Kill him.'**_

Finally, Pain produced another black rod.

* * *

><p>Kushina stepped out of the Root base and staggered backwards as a powerful shock wave hit the area followed by a wave of deep crimson chakra that seemed to shoot up to the sky.<p>

"The Kyuubi..."

An ear-splitting roar made the whole area shake as waves of the vile chakra pushed trees aside.

It seemed that Nagato had been right. There really had been another jinchuuriki of the Kyuubi once it regenerated after Danzo...

No. No use to think about that now.

For now she needed to help Nagato.

With that in mind she headed towards her former Tailed Beast.

* * *

><p>Pain watched the scene with his same stoic demeanor.<p>

Even as six crimson tails swayed in the wind and a crimson fox made up of malevolent chakra glared at him in hatred and fury, his demeanor did not change.

The Kyuubi roared loudly as it shot forward.

Pain, expecting his main body to be attacked, was surprised when the Tailed Beast ran past him and crushed two of his bodies with ease. He noticed that he had aimed at his Preta Path and his Naraka Path.

Did the Kyuubi, in its mindless state, still retain some of the knowledge of its jinchuuriki?

The Tailed Beast clapped its hands, creating a powerful shock wave that sent the three remaining bodies flying, before extending its tails and using them to impale the other two remaining bodies, now leaving only Pain's main body.

Pain landed on the ground and looked the Kyuubi in the eye, "Do you hate me?"

"**GYAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHH!"**

* * *

><p>Every ninja in the village stopped what they were doing as soon as the demonic roar rung through the area accompanied by a malevolent chakra that made the hairs on their backs stand in fear.<p>

Kakashi had felt this before. Back when the Kyuubi first appeared in the village. There was no mistaking it, the same evil chakra, the same roars filled with hatred... It was the Kyuubi.

"W-What is that?" Sakura stammered in fear.

Even the Sound ninja they were facing stood still with their eyes wide in apparent fright.

"Kakashi. You have to go see what's happening. Take Sakura, you'll need a medic," Asuma suggested.

"What about you two?" Kakashi asked.

"Leave this to us!" Gai grinned brightly with a thumbs up. "Even without you helping, we'll find a way to protect this village! It is our job!"

Sakura looked between them, not exactly being ecstatic over going to where the roars and terrible chakra was coming from.

"Let's go Sakura," Kakashi nodded at her and, despite her not being exactly okay with going, she nodded in understanding and followed after him. Her friend's lives could be at stake, there was no way she would let her fear get the best of her.

* * *

><p>Two pillars of wood broke out of the ground and two Sound ninja.<p>

An ANBU member with a seal burning on his right hand, could waste no time with these enemies. There was a much bigger problem about to befall the village.

Six tails.

Naruto was going out of control. The only person that could stop the Kyuubi from being released was himself.

"We'll take care of them," a couple of ANBU who just arrived said, urgency clear in their voices.

"Be strong," he said in response before leaving the area.

* * *

><p>"Now you understand true pain," the Akatsuki leader said to the mindless beast growling at him in the distance.<p>

Or at least, he thought it was mindless.

Which is why he was caught off-guard when two long red arms sprouted from the Kyuubi's back and created twin Rasengans.

"Almighty Push."

The invisible force was just big enough to cover his body as the twin attacks crashed upon it and dispersed harmlessly. However, the two large crimson hands slammed on the ground, causing the earth at his feet to shake violently and then raise into a tall pillar, before another set of hands caught him in a lock around his body.

From the way the hands burned away parts of his coat, he could guess that the Kyuubi's body was incredibly hot. Even so, it was no disadvantage to him. Since he could not feel the pain inflicted on his bodies, it was easy for him to keep a cool head in even the most painful occurrences.

"Almighty Push."

This time a lot bigger, the force knocked aside the hands grasping his body and even reached the Kyuubi, who was pushed aside violently before regaining his balance and landing on the ground on all fours.

Visually even more enraged, the Kyuubi retracted the extra arms and punched at the ground with both hands, causing a powerful tremor on the ground before it began to break away and dozens of pillars rose high in the air. With Pain's vision blocked, the beast began to gathered chakra on its mouth as a seventh tail began to form, making the crimson body bigger in the process and showing hints of muscle covering the bones that had formed on top of the mass of chakra.

Pain narrowed his eyes as he jumped up one of the taller pillars just in time to see the Kyuubi swallow a tiny ball of chakra. Eyes widening, he was quick to raise his hand just as a massive blast of yellow chakra shot out of the Kyuubi's mouth.

"Almighty Push!"

Creating a massive force to block the powerful attack, the Kyuubi was pushed away along with the attack that changed directions and destroyed parts of the area around them.

Massive explosions rocked the area as a powerful wind washed over the area, knocking any unsuspecting ninja off their feet.

Having the attack blocked and being hurt by the annoying attack, did nothing but make the Kyuubi even angrier. Done with long range attacks, it began to run at the enemy at a speed so fast that it looked like a red blur. Once it got close enough to the pillars, it created a massive red hand that sprouted from its back and destroyed them all with a single swing.

Pain descended from the air with a frown as the massive hand knocked him against the ground with such force that more than half of his body was buried into it.

Interestingly enough, it appeared that the Kyuubi had not yet been freed as some of the jinchuuriki's traits were still present. The usage of the spherical jutsu, and the resentment were proof enough of that. In any case, just to make sure, he decided to see if he was correct.

"That kunoichi I killed, did her death cause you pain?"

As expected, the Kyuubi punched at the ground as the seven tails moved wildly in the air before it roared so loudly that Pain's real body actual hear it from where he was.

Blinded with rage, the Tailed Beast ran at him at a much faster speed than before. Pain was quick to break out of the ground and produce a couple of black rods before sidestepping to dodge an incoming punch and stabbing the outstretched arm. He expected the rod to halt its movements, but the Kyuubi surprised him by quickly using his other hand to cut off the limb and grow another one in mere seconds.

Before he could be struck by an attack, Pain slapped his hands together and caused some of the large pieces of rock around the area to shoot at the Kyuubi who roared in pain when the rocks hit. However, the rocks were quickly broken to pieces by newly grown arms that then shot at the enemy.

Pain jumped, twisted, and twirled around the hands, before landing on the ground and throwing a couple of black rods at the Kyuubi's hands which met their mark but were quickly cut off. It seemed that even in a state of blind anger, the Kyuubi knew of the danger of the black rods.

Not good.

If he kept things going any longer, his final body could be badly damaged. He had to end things before they grew any more troublesome.

Knowing that he could no longer waste any more time, he clapped his hands together and closed his eyes in concentration. A buzzing could be heard from within this hands and as he opened them slowly, a small bright orb could be seen. It soon began to lose its color and turn black before Pain opened his palms and let the ball fly up in the air.

The Kyuubi growled and sent its arms at the enemy but Pain dodged by jumping back and twisting his body before bringing his hands together once again.

"Planetary Devastation."

The black orb that was high in the air let out a bright flash as the ground began to crumble and rise in the air, gathering around the ball and making it grow in size.

Roaring, the Kyuubi ran at Pain but he extended a hand towards it and caused several of the rocks to gather around the Tailed Beast and halt its movements. It easily broke the rocks but more and more began to cover its body until the ground under it gave away and floated up the air. Despite its trashing, the Kyuubi couldn't stop the rocks and was finally pinned underneath all of the rock gathering in the sky.

It was as if a meteor had appeared above the ruined Konoha.

The Kyuubi's roars could be heard as several arms broke out of the rock and the beast clawed its way out until it was on the surface of the massive rock. Free from its binds, it gathered chakra on its mouth and aimed at the enemy but, before it could kill the pest, several chains shot up in the air, wrapped around the meteor, and finally covered the Kyuubi's body until it was pinned to the rock.

Pain panted and noticed that Kushina had arrived with her face uncovered.

"Capture it quickly," she said.

"Only a few more moments," he informed as the Kyuubi roared angrily and trashed against its binds.

* * *

><p>Kakashi and Sakura arrived to a horrible scene.<p>

Choji, Shikamaru and Ino were laying on the ground with pools of blood under their bodies. Sakura, quickly ran to the nearest two and found out that while Shikamaru was dead, Ino was just barely hanging on to life. Meanwhile Kakashi moved to check on Choji but found that he had sadly passed.

Doing her best to ignore anything that was happening around her, Sakura quickly got to work on keeping her best friend alive no matter what it took.

Kakashi turned away from Choji's body, only for his eyes to widen in shock. Looking at the massive form of the Kyuubi was troubling enough but nothing prepared him for the several chains that kept the massive beast bound to the giant meteor that had formed over the village.

_'An Uzumaki... Could he be the leader of the Akatsuki?'_

Kakashi wanted to do something but he couldn't leave Sakura alone while she tried to keep Ino alive. With so many enemies in the village, it would be foolish to leave her all alone while her mind was occupied.

He could only hope that Naruto would somehow break free.

* * *

><p>His mind was blank and his body numb.<p>

Eyes half closed, with his head hung, Naruto slowly stepped closer and closer to the giant dark cage in front of him.

The splatter of his steps on the flooding dark tunnels echoed as two large red eyes watched the scene in glee.

It took many years but the Kyuubi was finally about to break out, this time for good. Careful to remain quiet just in case that his voice might break Naruto out of his trancelike stare, the Kyuubi didn't dare to let his impatience get in the way. After waiting for years, he could handle the agonizingly slow steps.

_'I don't...want this again...'_

Naruto thought as he moved closer to the care.

_'Again... Everyone dies because of me...'_

The water underneath his feet began to rise and push him up the length of the cage so that he was standing in front of the seal.

_'Ino. Ino was...'_

Tears rolled down his cheeks as his right hand inched toward the seal.

_'Ino...'_

He gripped the corner of the paper and-

A hand gripped his arm tightly before the dazed Naruto was flung across the tunnel and crashed on the floor with a look of shock.

"W-What was I about to do?" He muttered to himself in confusion before looking back at the cage. Several thoughts as to who had appeared to stop him from releasing the seal began to race through his head but none could prepare him for the truth.

A white cloak fluttered as a blond man with blue eyes turned to him with a gentle smile.

"Y-You're..."

"**Fourth Hokage!**"

Hearing the Kyuubi roar caused the Fourth to grin.

"Nice to see you again, Naruto."

**Ch.39 End**


	40. Yellow Flash

**So here's the new chapter. Just in case you were thinking that I was going to take forever again, I laugh at you. Anyway, this chapter took longer to write since I kept on re-writing it so that it came out the way I wanted it too. **

**Fun fact, starting on chapter 35, I have written more chapter than I did for a whole year. Man, sorry again for that long wait. **

**Naruto: Making of a Hokage**

_**True Pain Arc**_

**Ch.40 Yellow Flash**

"Y-You're the Fourth..." Naruto stammered, eyes wide in shock and hands trembling.

Minato smiled as the Kyuubi roared behind them in pure fury.

"What do you say we leave this loud one for now?" He proposed as he waved a hand and the landscape around them changed.

Gone were the dark tunnels, replaced by a grassy meadow surrounded by warm bright lights.

"You have a lot of questions," Minato said. "Sadly, there's not enough time for me to answer all of them. My time here is limited. So let me start by saying that the reason I am here is because I left a bit of my chakra on the seal so that I could one day come talk to you in the case of an emergency."

Naruto stood up, a haunted expression on his face as he listened to his father speak, "I'm sorry..."

"Hm?"

"Sorry that this happened," Naruto looked down, "That the Kyuubi was almost out. It was all my fault."

Minato smiled gently and placed a hand on his son's shoulder, "You have nothing to be sorry for. I can't even begin to describe how happy and proud I am to see you. Parents are there to help their children when they really need it. That's why, I'm glad that I got to help you at least once."

A couple of tears rolled down Naruto's cheeks before he wrapped his arms around his father and cried on his shoulder.

"Naruto, I know this may be hard for you to hear now but I'm afraid that I need to tell you this before it's too late."

Naruto pulled away and wiped his eyes, "O-Okay."

Minato smiled, proud of how strong his son was. Even now that he saw him all grown up he couldn't help but see him as the baby he had protected all those years ago. That's the same reason why he _had _to tell him the real danger.

"There is a masked man that is dangerous. I first met him on the day of your birth..."

* * *

><p>Eight Tails.<p>

The symbol burned on his hand.

There was no telling what would happen if the Kyuubi emerged now but, as unlikely as he had thought it would ever be for him to be thankful to the Akatuski, he was felt with a bit of relief that the Kyuubi was at least encased in a massive circular rock that floated above the village. At least this way there wouldn't be any casualties from the tailed beast.

As he jumped to a roof to cross a street, his eyes widened in shock when two massive fireballs shot towards him. Despite being surprised, his years of experience made it possible for him to stop his momentum and jump back just in time for the attacks to explode against the roof of the house he had landed on.

He noticed two Sound ninja standing on the neighboring roof of a two-story building, however they weren't like the others.

Still dressed similar to ANBU, the thing that differentiated them was that they had on long purple scarfs and that their faces were uncovered, a pair of faces that were identical.

"You're not going anywhere, Konoha bastard."

"We couldn't care less about the Akatsuki but as long as they are taking care of that freakish monster, then it makes things way easier for us."

The ANBU member relaxed his stance, his concealed eyes taking in every detail he could.

Brown hair. Youthful faces. Lean bodies. Eyes burning with overconfidence.

They thought of themselves as strong, but what they thought was strong and what he thought was strong, were two very different things.

With time being of the essence, the only way for him to find out was to fight.

* * *

><p>"Someone like him won't die easily. I know he is still out there, planning something terrible. You're the only one that can stop him Naruto." Minato said in a serious voice, "Your seal, though it has changed, was always meant to give you the power of the Kyuubi. There will come a time when you have to learn to control that power."<p>

"I...don't know."

Naruto spoke without hiding anything. There was no point in putting up a brave act in front of his father. Or anyone for that matter.

"Ino, the girl I fell in love with, died today. More of my close friends did too. So how? How am I supposed to walk out of here and fight?"

Tears brimmed in his eyes as he looked at his father desperately.

"How am I supposed to go on when so much of me doesn't want to!?"

"I can't stand here and tell you that everything will be okay," Minato said in an understanding voice. "You live in a very cruel world Naruto. At any moment, someone close to you could die. In my life, I also suffered the pain of losing someone. The weight of knowing that you will never see someone again can cause even the strongest person to crumble."

A brief silence passed between the two of them before Minato put a hand on Naruto's shoulder.

"But, while it may be cruel, the world is also very beautiful."

Naruto looked up slowly.

"I got to meet many precious people and even though some may be gone, the times I shared with them never will be. It's not easy to lose someone so close, but they will always live deep in your heart. I'm sure that all of your friends are watching you and wishing that you can push through all your pain."

He smiled at his son.

"If they're your close friends, then I'm sure that none of them would want their death weighing down on you. Even though you may not be able to do it by yourself, remember that they will always be with you, supporting you. Lending you their strength."

Naruto took a short breath before smiling sadly, "Right now...I must look pretty pathetic to them, huh?"

Minato grinned, "We all have our lows."

"You're right." Life sparked in Naruto's eyes, "I can't let Pain go through with whatever he has planned. For the sake of my precious people that died trying to protect Konoha...I won't give up. Even though it will be painful, I have to finish what they all started. I won't let their last wishes die!"

"Then let me pass something on to you," Minato decided with a grin, "Time should move a lot slowly in here than in the real world. We'll take advantage of that. This will be my gift to you Naruto."

* * *

><p>Pain's eyes widened when the Kyuubi's body burned brightly before its massive form began to shrink. The chains wrapping around its body got loose as the crimson chakra around the jinchuuriki began to fade.<p>

Standing at the bottom of the meteor, with yellow eyes glaring at Pain, was Naruto.

Kushina could feel her eyes grow wide and a powerful pang on her chest. Only when she drew in a deep breath did she notice that she had momentarily forgotten to breathe.

The jinchuuriki of the Kyuubi. A teen with blond spiky hair and whisker marks. It seemed like it was yesterday that she last saw someone like that. Her baby.

Pain knew from the moment that the jinchuuriki was revealed that no amount of deceiving could persuade Kushina.

A loss, but not something that he couldn't work around.

"Uzumaki Naruto," Pain spoke up with his gaze on the target. "How did you break out of the Kyuubi?"

"That doesn't matter now. Right now I only have one thing to worry about," he declared placing his left hand on the side of his leg, where a bright seal glowed and a three-ponged kunai with a seal on its hilt appeared on his hand.

"Get ready Pain. I'll end this, in an instant."

With a flick of his wrist the kunai launched at Pain, who narrowed his eyes and sidestepped. To his surprise, before the kunai could touch the ground, Naruto appeared at his side with a yellow flash.

"What?" The Akatsuki leader let out in genuine surprise before a fist collided with his face and sent him flying.

Taking out another kunai, Naruto launched it in the air and it multiplied into dozens that fell on upon the ground like the rain that had only gotten harder.

Pain kept his eyes on the blond ninja, all of his senses focused on him.

A yellow flash...it seemed that the jinchuuriki had learned the technique at some point.

Not good.

"Almighty Push."

For now he used the invisible force to push the kunai away in order to prevent Naruto from appearing at his side again, but when he looked at the jinchuuriki, he actually gasped when noticing the chains sticking out of his back and burrowed into the ground.

Without thinking about it, he quickly jumped in the air just as a couple of bright blue chains shot out of the ground and closed in on him. Pain was prepared to dodge but the chains suddenly faded as a horde of kunai flew towards him.

"Almighty Push!"

Once again, the kunai were pushed aside but just as his attack ended, Naruto appeared in mid-air with a clone.

The clone took hold of the original's arm and hurled him towards Pain.

_'5...4...3...2...'_ Pain counted in his head in alarm before a Rasengan dug into his stomach and sent him flying through the air before he finally crashed with a large cloud of debris.

Naruto landed on the ground as the effects of Sage Mode ended, and walked towards the fallen ninja. With a large messy hole on his stomach and his eyes closed, it looked like he was down for good. Even so...

He glanced at the other Akatsuki member in the distance with a blank expression.

She was a woman with red hair that staggered and fell to her knees with a strange look on her face. It didn't look like she was in the best condition so he turned back to the body and pulled out one of the black rods. Earlier he had felt something when Pain stabbed him, if he was right then he could pinpoint the location of the person controlling the bodies.

Naruto stabbed himself on the hand with the rod and was instantly struck with foreign chakra.

Entering Sage Mode once again, he easily found the source.

_'Not too far,' _he thought.

With a single push of his feet he rocketed out of the area at an incredible speed, leaving nothing but dust on his wake.

Kushina trembled as she watched the teen go.

Jinchuuriki of the Nine-Tails.

Yellow Flash.

Chakra chains...

"...N-Naruto?"

* * *

><p>Wind violently ruffling his hair and clothes, Naruto's yellow eyes scanned the large forest outside of Konoha until he found an unusual tree.<p>

Thrusting his hand forward, a powerful gust of air tore away everything in the area even uprooting some old trees. Sure enough, a large hole appeared on the unusual tree that was made up of some strange paper. Inside of it, he could see an old skinny red-haired man hooked up to some strange machine, and a woman with blue hair.

Paper wings formed on the woman's back and she was flying towards him in mere moments.

"I'm not in the mood to play around," Naruto stated coldly.

Raising his right hand, the Rasenshuriken formed with a loud hiss.

"Konan!" The old man yelled in apparent worry, "Stop. Don't attack."

Despite obvious opposition in her eyes, Konan stopped mid-flight.

Naruto narrowed his eyes on the two but allowed his Rasenshuriken to disperse as he landed on the ground.

"You're the one controlling the Pain bodies," Naruto commented with a hate-filled glare, "Tell me why I'm not killing you right now."

"I wish to speak with you. After that you have every right to attack me."

Naruto's eyes narrowed, "And why should I listen to you. Why grant the request of a bastard like you?"

"From the way you fight and the similar strange jutsu, I can assume that you are Jiraiya-sensei's current student, no?" The blond frowned at his words, and he knew that he was right. "Did he not tell you about his wish for peace? How the cycle of hatred continues in the world."

Jiraiya-sensei _had _told him. Back then his younger self had believed that he could fulfill his master's wish for peace, but as he grew up, he slowly began to realize how much of a request that was. A lot had happened since.

"He did tell me, but having peace in such a fucked up world is impossible. No matter what I try to do, there's no way a single person can stop every single tragedy in the world from occurring. Even if I tried to get help from other nations, there's no guarantee that they'll go through with any sort of change."

"Exactly," Pain agreed, "That's why our goal in the Akatsuki is to make the world experience true agonizing pain. That way they'll have no choice but to be peaceful"

Naruto looked down and clenched his fists. "I don't think you're wrong in thinking that. I'm sure that you went through hell in order to end up thinking the way you do."

"But..."

His father was right.

The same way that the world was cruel, it was also very beautiful.

That day, long ago, when he bumped into Ino on the street. Back when they rarely said more than a few words to each other, back when the two of them didn't think much of the other. The world had given them a chance to be around each other. For that, for letting him spend time with Ino, he was grateful.

It seemed like only yesterday she was forcing him to get new clothes. Like only yesterday she dragged him to her room to clean up a bloody nose. Their first kiss, an accident, replayed so vividly in his mind that he was sure he could still feel the lingering feeling on his lips.

…

_'Eh?'_

With the effects of Sage Mode still present he could feel the many chakra signatures still strong in the village. Among them, a weak but very warm signature.

_'I see...'_

He fought the urge to cry that overwhelmed him so much that his lips quivered.

"This world is not only full of pain." Naruto said after a long pause. He raised his head and smiled, "I'm sure you have them too, memories of good times that will never go away. Even if my friends are not with me anymore, they'll live on in my memories, in the memories of their families. Their hopes and dreams will never die."

"You think this, even though I'm the one responsible for their deaths?" Pain asked in a mildly curious voice.

"Yes." Naruto answered truthfully. "But I still don't think what Jiraiya-sensei asked of me can be achieved so easily. That's why I'll do things my own way. I'll end the cycle of hatred through other ways."

Pain looked at him in surprise before lowering his head and smiling, "Such a childish response." A chuckle escaped his lips, "Very well. Let's make a deal."

"Huh?"

"Simply killing me won't fix anything and there's many threats still in the world. What I ask of you is to stop them. Their goals will only bring destruction to the world and many more will go through the suffering I endured in my youth. While I seeked to bring war for the sake of peace, _they _only want to bring chaos."

"Nagato..." Konan muttered as a small smile formed on her face.

Even though she was loyal to him, sticking with him through thick and thin. She was glad to see him return, if only for a brief moment, to his old self.

"In return, I will revive those killed in this fight."

Naruto's eyes widened, hope overwhelming his sense. "C-Can you really do that?"

"Yes. In exchange for my life, I can bring back those killed today," Nagato explained, "Regardless of what happens, after overexerting my body during our fight, I will die today."

Naruto looked at Nagato sadly as he began to concentrate.

In the end, the Akatsuki leader was a good person. Warped by the terrible things that must have happened to him, he truly believed that what he was trying to do was for the best of the world. Even now he was doing what he thought was best for the world. Never thinking about himself, putting others first, that was the king of person Nagato was.

* * *

><p>Sakura's hands trembled as he continued to work on keeping her best friend alive. Sweat rolled down her face as he continued to apply all that she had learned throughout the years until she finally let out a breath and the green flow on her hands died down.<p>

Ino, she would be okay. She would need her sleep but she would wake up.

Kakashi, who was standing nearby as a lookout smiled under his mask. It seemed that they were all safe for the time being, probably because the Sound ninja were too wary of getting anywhere close to where such a big fight had taken place.

As he scanned the area, this time focusing on where Naruto had been fighting, hundreds of green lights began to fly through the area.

A very audible gasp escaped his lips.

The miraculous green lights that entered the bodies on the floor and brought people back to life were ignored by the copy ninja as his attention was on an Akatsuki member that was on her knees. Long red hair flowed with the wind and her very familiar face was haunted by a horrified expression.

Kushina's eyes watered as she brought to hands to her head and let out a loud cry.

She couldn't explain it.

She was happy, elated, about to burst with joy.

But at the same time...

Naruto had been alive all this time.

While she wasted her time with revenge, not thinking once about giving it up and returning to her village, her baby had grown up as a jinchuuriki in a village full of people that would hate him.

All alone, with no family. Her son must have been lonely. He must have been sad. He **must **have asked about his parents. About his mother. Who was too deep in her own misery to be there for him.

She could even think about how it would have gone.

One day, having given up on revenge, she would return to the village. People would have been surprised to see her alive and her friends would have happily told her that her son lived. She would find him, hug him, kiss him, and tell him that he would never be alone again.

But no, instead she chose to pursue the death of Danzo. If she had given up on killing him and instead told the Third, then he would have been put away in a high security prison. He would have lived, but in return she would have been with her son.

Kakashi stepped closer to Kushina, who was sobbing now.

Now that he was close enough to see her, hundreds of thoughts began to race through his head but the most prominent one was, _'What now?'_

* * *

><p>There was no magical flash of light. No explosion of energy.<p>

Nothing.

Nagato remained in place with a hand seal, his body trembling and eyes closed in concentration. But the effects of Sage Mode did not lie. He could feel hundreds of chakra signatures returning at around the same time, among them those of his dear friends.

The weak skinny man's body trembled as his red hair faded to white until he finally gave one last push and slumped over, his arms hanging at his sides in exhaustion.

"Senseless killing. Endless hate. Tragedy. That is what war really is," Nagato drew in a deep breath as life faded away from his eyes, "You have to prevent what is to come. The Akatsuki may have been your enemies, and now without me as their leader even more so, but without them there is no one prepared for the real threat."

Naruto's eyes narrowed, heart beating fast against his chest.

The way Nagato was talking... It was as if he wasn't speaking about the masked man, but of someone, or something else entirely.

"You must become stronger Naruto. Stop _their _hatred from plunging the world into an endless war."

"I give you my word," the blond said with a serious expression, "I'll do everything I can."

"Such conviction," Nagato chuckled weakly, "One more thing...it is not my place to say but I have done something horrible to the Akatsuki member that was there when we finished our fight."

"The one with red hair," Naruto remembered.

Nagato nodded slowly, "Talk to her." He turned to Konan, at his side like always, and smiled, "Thank you...for always being there...for me."

Konan took his hand and smiled, "Always..."

Naruto stood quietly, watching with sad eyes as the weak man quietly passed away. Even when Konan took him off the strange machine, he didn't say anything out of respect.

"You're fight is not over yet," Konan said with Nagato's body in her arms. At the confused expression she received, she continued, "A very large group of ninja, an army, infiltrated Konoha during your battle."

Naruto's first instinct was to go back as soon as possible, however, his feet stayed glued to the same spot as he looked at her feeling hesitant. There was so much he wanted to say in regards of what Nagato had said and done, but it had to wait. Now wasn't the time.

As he continued to struggle with his words, he finally looked at her firmly and said, "Thank you."

With that he left the area, blue eyes burning in determination as he raced back to Konoha.

**Ch.40 End**


End file.
